What we covered here
- Former FBI Director James Comey took questions at CNN’s town hall, moderated by Anderson Cooper.
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James Comey faces questions at CNN town hall
Updates
(23)And that's a wrap...
The CNN town hall with former FBI Director James Comey has concluded, but reaction and analysis continues on CNN. Watch it live on CNNGo.
Comey's regrets as FBI director
James Comey said he has quite a few regrets as FBI director, but none of them are huge.
Will James Comey run for office? "I will not. I won't. I never will."
Former FBI Director James Comey says he will “never” run for office.
“I will not,” he said. “I won’t. I never will.”
“That’s not who I am. But you don’t have to run for office to be part of affecting change in this country,” he added, and said he instead hopes to “facilitate this conversation” by traveling and speaking to students, and others who will have him.
“There are ways to be useful without running for office.”
Comey's message to disillusioned young voters: "We need your voices"
A first-time voter said that while she was excited to vote for the first time in 2016, this “first true taste of American politicking” has many rethinking civic engagement.
James Comey begged them not to turn away.
“Don’t withdraw. We need your voices. We need your minds, your hearts. We need your passion. You are what is going to grow in the wake of this forest fire,” he said.
“Whether you’re a Republican or Democrat, become involved. Not just vote, but participate in the conversation to make sure the values of this country are preserved and protected.”
Comey says he's "embarrassed and ashamed" by the Republican party
Former FBI chief James Comey was a Republican in the 1980s, but not anymore.
“I’ve been embarrassed and ashamed by the way the Republican party has abandoned one of the two things that led me to consider myself a Republican in the 1980s when Ronald Reagan was president,” he said.
“I was attracted by the notion that character matters and values matter most of all. That’s where you start in evaluating a person, an entity or a country. What are their values? That’s nonnegotiable. And second, strong national defense, which I’m still passionate about.”
Comey said Republicans must ask themselves whether the party still holds those values.
He also said that Republicans on Capitol Hill are failing the “grandchild question,” which is, “What will I tell my grandchildren?”
Why Comey views the Trump presidency as a "forest fire"
Asked if student-led movements would lead to gun reforms, James Comey said he doesn’t know, but he’s optimistic young people will prevail under the Trump presidency. He then gave a striking metaphor about what he thinks Trump will do to this country.
“I think of Donald Trump’s presidency as a forest fire that will do a lot of damage to values above our policy differences,” he said. “But forest fires – the reason I chose that metaphor – is they do damage, but things grow in the wake of them that didn’t have space or air or water to grow before.”
He continued: “I see that in the Parkland kids. I see that in the William Mary kids. I see this in my own kids standing up and speaking. And I hope any will inspire all of us and maybe shame the adults in this nation to get involved and not become numb to things that are critical to the values of this country.”
James Comey recounts his terrifying high school encounter with the "Ramsey rapist"
FBI Director James Comey just recounted his story about a fateful night, while he was a senior in high school, when a serial rapist broke into his home and took him and his brother captive. He escaped with his life, obviously, but it changed him forever.
Watch Comey tell the story:
Comey: I "don't know" if we're in a hot or cold war with Russia
A student asked James Comey if he felt we were on the brink of a second cold war with Russia.
“I don’t know whether I would characterize it that way,” Comey responded.
“We are certainly in on many levels conflict with Russia. What they did during the 2016 election was an attack by an adversary nation and if we are not vigilant, it will happen again. And whether you call that a cold war or a hot war, I don’t know. But we are in conflict on many levels with the Russian government.”
Comey never wrote memos while working for Obama and Bush
Former FBI Director James Comey said he never wrote memos after talking with former Presidents Bush and Obama.
Comey kept memos of his conservations with President Trump.
The Justice Department released Comey’s memos to Congress last week.
Here are some details from the memos:
- Comey wrote how Trump’s “serious reservations” about then-national security adviser Michael Flynn.
- Trump frequently brought up leaks to the media and they discussed trying to find the source of the leaks.
- Trump also at least twice brought up the “golden showers thing” and said he was concerned even if there was a small chance his wife had thought it was true.
- President Vladimir Putin allegedly told Trump that Russia had the “most beautiful hookers in the world.”
Comey never saw Trump laugh. That concerned him.
James Comey, the former FBI chief, said he never saw President Trump laugh.
He saw former President Bush and Obama laugh, but not Trump. That raised some flags for Comey because he said great leaders can show both confidence and humor.
He said:
Comey said he didn’t see Trump laugh when they sat down for dinner.
“So I became a little concerned about this,” he said.
Why "Slime Ball" James Comey has no nickname for President Trump
A student asked James Comey, who Trump has called a “slime ball” on Twitter, if he had a nickname President Trump.
“I don’t have a nickname for him,” Comey said. “I call him the president of the United States because I respect the office.”
That response drew applause from the audience.
Comey added: “No matter my concerns for him, I want him to be successful.”
What Comey thinks about the so-called "deep state"
CNN’s Anderson Cooper asked Comey what gives him the belief that institutions like the FBI are strong enough to handle the criticism they face from the White House.
“Because I know them,” Comey said. “And because I know no president serves long enough to destroy the culture at the root of them.”
Of the term “deep state” that Trump supporters so frequently throw around when speaking of Trump critics in US government, he said, “There is no deep state but there is a deep culture. The fundamental values that are at our constitution that runs deep. The FBI, the justice department as a whole. The intelligence community. It is the ballast that gives me comfort and I hope gives all Americans comfort.”
“If we are silent,” he added, “tremendous damage will be done that will take us time to recover.”
Why Comey thinks Clinton would’ve made a better president: "Values"
Comey said he felt the American people “were faced with a historic choice between the two least popular and least trusted candidates in modern history,” but Clinton is more “respectful of the norms and traditions that I am so worried about being eroded today,” and so that’s why he thinks she would’ve made a better president than President Trump. That answer, Comey explained, was based on “values.”
Comey says he spoke out about the Clinton emails because "concealing would be catastrophic"
Former FBI Director James Comey was asked why he announced — less than two weeks before the presidential election — that the bureau would investigate more emails potentially related to Hillary Clinton’s private server.
He said the department had to weigh whether they should speak out about the Clinton emails or conceal it.
Why Comey says he didn’t break the law by releasing his memos to the media
James Comey said President Trump is “just making stuff up” when the President says his former FBI director broke the law by releasing or leaking his memos.
“The bottom line, is I see no credible claim by any serious person that that violated the law,” Comey said.
Comey and Anderson Cooper then had an interesting exchange that revealed Comey seems to believe a “leak” is specifically when classified information is intentionally released to the public.
“I intentionally gave this information to a friend, intending that it be out in the media. I wanted it to get out in the media. As a private citizen I could do that and did do that just as I written about it in my book,” Comey said.
Why Comey didn’t stand up to Trump
CNN’s Anderson Cooper asked former FBI Director James Comey why he didn’t stand up in some of those moments he has said made him uncomfortable.
“I’m sure I could have done it better if I had been better prepared for those moments,” Comey said.
He added that he was, at times, preoccupied with remembering the exchanges that he didn’t think to tell the President that the exchange or request was inappropriate.
Comey: I don't believe Trump is "morally fit" to be president
Former FBI Director James Comey opened tonight’s CNN town hall by answering a question about whether President Trump was fit to be President.
Comey was clear: “My concern is with his moral fitness.”
“I don’t believe he is morally fit to be president of the United States,” he said. “I never thought I would say that about a president.”
Here are 7 things to know about James Comey
Former FBI Director James Comey is an unlikely candidate to take center stage in the most charged political drama of this generation, but history shows he has a tendency to turn up in the headlines.
Here are some them:
- He delivered an unprecedented “October Surprise” in the 2016 election. He announced — less than two weeks before the presidential election — that the bureau would investigate more emails potentially related to Hillary Clinton’s private server.
- Comey opposed Bush White House officials in a dramatic standoff. When then-Attorney General John Ashcroft was hospitalized in 2004, Bush officials rushed to his side in an effort to have him sign off on an extension to the wiretapping program, which Justice Department attorneys had deemed illegal, according to Comey’s account. The weakened Ashcroft managed to make clear his refusal and Gonzales and Card left the room – with Comey, then Ashcroft’s top deputy, watching on – without a word.
- He prosecuted Martha Stewart. Comey brought a series of charges against Stewart in 2003 in connection with a dodgy 2000 stock deal. She was ultimately convicted and sentenced to five months in prison.
- He’d investigated the Clintons previously. Their first run-in came in the mid-1990s, when Comey joined the Senate Whitewater Committee as a deputy special counsel. In 2002, Comey, then a federal prosecutor, took over an investigation into President Bill Clinton’s 2001 pardon of financier Marc Rich, who had been indicted on a laundry list of charges before fleeing the country
- Comey was locked up and held at gunpoint. In October 1977, he and his younger brother were held captive in their home by the so-called “Ramsey Rapist.”
- He was overwhelmingly confirmed by the Senate in 2013. Comey became the seventh FBI director when he was confirmed by the Senate on July 29, 2013, by a 93-1 count, with Sen. Rand Paul the lone holdout. He succeeded Robert Mueller III.
- Comey was a registered Republican for many years. In testimony on Capitol Hill, he insisted that his FBI is “resolutely apolitical.” Comey himself, however, does have a partisan past — as a Republican.
How the Comey memos helped lead to the special counsel investigation
Robert Mueller was appointed as special counsel last May, more than a week after President Trump’s fired former FBI Director James Comey.
The Trump administration attributed Comey’s dismissal to his handling of the investigation into Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s email server.
Soon after the firing, news emerged that Comey kept contemporaneous memos on his conversations with Trump, claiming Trump had asked him to end the investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Following reports of the memos, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein selected appointedMueller to lead a special counsel probe into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election and potential coordination between Trump’s associates and Russia.
The next month, Comey testified for nearly three hours before the Senate intelligence committee. He detailed his interactions with Trump during the blockbuster testimony.
These were some of the takeaways:
— Trump asked him to let an investigation go. He said Trump privately urged him to drop the probe into ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn.
— Comey testified that Lynch pressed him not to call the FBI’s Clinton email an “investigation,” but instead call it a “matter.”
— Comey said Trump is liar, a lot. He said the entire reason he took notes of his meetings with Trump was because he believed Trump would lie about them.
The Comey memos were released last week. Here's what's in them.
Former FBI Director James Comey’s memos were provided to Congress on Thursday and obtained by CNN the same day. The memos include documentation of seven conversations he had with President Trump from January 7, 2017, through April 11, 2017.
Four of the notes are classified and have been partially redacted, and three of them are unclassified. Here are some details from the memos:
- Comey wrote how Trump’s “serious reservations” about then-national security adviser Michael Flynn.
- Trump frequently brought up leaks to the media and they discussed trying to find the source of the leaks.
- Trump also at least twice brought up the “golden showers thing” and said he was concerned even if there was a small chance his wife had thought it was true.
- President Vladimir Putin allegedly told Trump that Russia had the “most beautiful hookers in the world.”
Why the Comey memos are important
The contemporaneous notes that Comey compiled have already had a major impact:
- They helped lead to the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel
- Formed the basis of Trump’s constant criticism that Comey is “a leaker”
- Sparked accusations that Comey provided classified information to a friend.
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