Comey Says Voters Judging Trump Is Better Than Impeaching Him

(Bloomberg) -- Former FBI Director James Comey said he hopes President Donald Trump isn’t impeached because “that would let the American people off the hook.”

Comey, who Trump fired in 2017, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Friday that “the American people need to vote their values” next year on whether to give the president a second term.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election found there was "substantial evidence" that Comey was fired amid Trump’s anger over the FBI chief’s "unwillingness to publicly state that the president was not personally under investigation.”

Comey said Mueller’s report was “tremendous work.” The special counsel said he couldn’t conclude that those in Trump’s campaign conspired with Russia but also that he couldn’t exonerate Trump of obstructing justice during the probe.

While Mueller accepted the Justice Department’s policy that a sitting president can’t be indicted, Comey said the investigation provided substantial evidence that Congress could pursue if lawmakers opt for impeachment or that a prosecutor could act on after Trump leaves office.

‘Cabal’ a Lie

Comey rejected the allegation by Trump and House Republicans that the probe by the FBI and Justice Department spied was tainted early on by anti-Trump bias.

“The notion that we were part of some anti-Trump cabal is a lie and it’s sort of a dumb lie,” Comey said. “We were investigating people associated with the Trump campaign before the election and we didn’t tell anybody."

Attorney General William Barr is now examining whether the FBI and Justice Department engaged in what he’s called “spying” on the Trump campaign.

In a tweet this month, Comey said, "an AG should not be echoing conspiracy theories. He should gather facts and show them. That is what Justice is about."

On Friday, Comey said, “I don’t know why he’s investigating. But if you’re investigating, just investigate, and share the facts with the American people.”

--With assistance from Rosalind Mathieson.

To contact the reporters on this story: Billy House in Washington at bhouse5@bloomberg.net;Matthew Miller in New York at mtmiller@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kevin Whitelaw at kwhitelaw@bloomberg.net, Larry Liebert

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