Published 20:11 IST, January 17th 2021
Former FBI chief fired by Trump in 2017 wants him impeached, not federally prosecuted
Even before pro-Trump inspired mob sieged government’s Capitol building to run attempts of a failed ‘coup’,ex-FBI chief rendered verdict on Trump presidency.
Advertisement
Former FBI Director and hardcore Trump critic James Comey, who was fired by the 45th President in 2017, suggested in his memoir that Trump must face impeachment but shall not be federally prosecuted, adding, that the prosecution would lead to many more years of "Donald Trump show” feeding the commander-in-chief’s ego. Even before pro-Trump inspired mob sieged government’s Capitol building to run attempts of a failed ‘coup’ and alleged plans of assassinating the targeted Congress and Democratic members, Comey rendered a verdict on Trump presidency.
In his recent televised address with US broadcasters, the ex-FBI chief advised that the president-elect Joe Biden must resist pursuing the outgoing President, even as Dems pushed for a probe against Trump’s allies and enablers for alleged criminal conduct after Biden assumes office on Jan. 20.
Advertisement
"I was sickened, as I hope all Americans were, watching an attack on the center of our democracy," the former FBI chief said of the violence in the live-streamed address.
"And I was also angry as someone who spent a lot of a career in law enforcement; I was angry that it was being allowed to happen and that the Capitol was not being adequately defended. It just mystified me and angered me.”
Advertisement
Meanwhile, Washington DC's attorney general Karl A. Racine resonated with Comey’s remarks as he instructed the investigators to identify and arrest those that barged the US Capitol, all the while not ruling out filing felony charges against the pro-MAGA base for inciting a riot. Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) had actively provoked the mob at the pro-Trump rally asking to “take down names”, as well as Trump’s attorney, Rudy Giuliani had incited the gatherers seeking a "trial by combat.” Trump’s son, meanwhile, Donald Trump, Jr., had yelled, "Stand up and fight! Hold your representatives accountable.”
Advertisement
On concerns about more violence in the coming days or weeks, Comey told AP: "I'm worried because there are armed, disturbed people who are in this state of mind where they believe that their country is being taken from them, and so it's a threat law enforcement in the States has to take very seriously."
Advertisement
'Constitutionally immune' to prosecution
Opposing a drawn-out federal criminal trial, the ex-FBI director said in a televised interview that Donald Trump must be barred from the television screens, describing the Rep. leader "unethical, and untethered to truth and institutional values” in his memoir: A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership. Comey alleged while Trump was "constitutionally immune" to prosecution, he must be charged with federal crimes that he committed in course of his presidency.
In 2017, the US president terminated Comey, becoming only the second in the history of the US to fire an FBI director. Comey, who was leading the investigation into whether Trump campaign members colluded with Russians in the 2016 election investigation, was accused of mishandling Hillary Clinton's email probe by the Trump administration.
20:11 IST, January 17th 2021