Former FBI Director James Comey praised the perceived resilience of the judiciary after receiving threats of arrest from Trump administration officials.
On Monday, Comey continued to navigate fallout from a controversial social media post made on Thursday. Following threats from some Trump administration officials to arrest him, perceiving the post as a threat against Trump, Comey expressed faith that he would be protected by the law, citing the resilience of the judiciary.
“Sure,” he responded in an interview with MSNBC’s Nicole Wallace when asked if he was worried that he wouldn’t be treated fairly now that he was under scrutiny. “But we live in a reality-based world where people, if they’re going to make accusations, have to make them in front of judges, have to put evidence forward, have to swear that things are true. I believe in our judiciary. I believe in that one remaining leg of our three-legged stool, that independent judiciary, is alive and well, and that gives me great comfort.”
Comey said he’s likely to experience more audits and investigations, but he’d weathered them before.
“We still have a leg on our stool. If we lose that, I don’t know where we are, but we have judges appointed by all different presidents of different parties who believe in the rule of law. And if you come into their courtroom, heaven help you if you’re not telling the truth. That still exists in this country, and should be a source of great comfort,” he said.
Comey also criticized law firms that have submitted to pressure from the Trump administration, drawing parallels to mob movies.
He said the law firms in question “must have never seen a mob movie because you give the mob a piece of your bar, first thing they do is bring their friends in to drink for free. Then they burn it down for the insurance. They will be sorry they made a deal with this administration.”
Comey posted and deleted a picture of shells lined up on a beach to depict the numbers “8647” on Thursday, an ambiguous message interpreted by defenders as a call for Trump to be removed from office and by critics as a call for Trump to be assassinated. Comey later said he did not mean for the post to provoke violence.
TRUMP FIRES OFF ON COMEY’S ‘8647’ MESSAGE: ‘THAT MEANT ASSASSINATION’
Speaking with Fox News on Friday, Trump said the post was obviously a threat, but said he would leave it up to Attorney General Pam Bondi as to whether or not to arrest or charge the former FBI director.
“I don’t want to take a position on it, because that’s going to be up to Pam and all of the great people, but I will say this, I think it’s a terrible thing,” Trump said. “And when you add his history to that, if he had a clean history, he doesn’t. He’s a dirty cop. He’s a dirty cop. And if he had a clean history, I could understand if there was leniency. But I’m going to let them make that decision.”