Former FBI Director James Comey penned an op-ed in The New York Times Thursday explaining exactly what he hopes to see from special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on attempted Russian interference in the 2016 election, which is expected in the coming days.
Comey said he is neither “rooting” for the report to show President Trump is a criminal or that he is cleared. Instead, he said he’s on the side of the rule of law.
“I’m not rooting for anything at all, except that the special counsel be permitted to finish his work, charge whatever cases warrant charging and report on his work,” he wrote. “I have no idea whether the special counsel will conclude that Mr. Trump knowingly conspired with the Russians in connection with the 2016 election or that he obstructed justice with the required corrupt intent. I also don’t care. I care only that the work be done, well and completely. If it is, justice will have prevailed and core American values will have been protected at a time when so much of our national leadership has abandoned its commitment to truth and the rule of law.”
Comey also expressed his hope that “Trump is not impeached and removed from office before the end of his term” because supporters of the president “would see this as a coup, and it would drive those people farther from the common center of American life, more deeply fracturing our country.”
Of course, Comey couldn’t conclude without taking a jab at the president, whom he refers to as a "chronic liar who repeatedly attacks the rule of law," telling fellow critics of Trump that it’s not impeachment they should hope for but his defeat at the ballot box in 2020.
“We need a resounding election result in 2020, where Americans of all stripes, divided as they may be about important policy issues … take a moment from their busy lives to show that they are united by something even more important: the belief that the president of the United States cannot be a chronic liar who repeatedly attacks the rule of law,” he said. “Then we can get back to policy disagreements.”