Former FBI Director James B. Comey said Sunday that President Biden was the only serious candidate voters should consider ahead of the 2024 election.
Mr Comey told NBC’s Jen Psaki in an interview that, when it comes to 2024, “it has to be Joe Biden”.
“It has to be someone committed to the rule of law, committed to the values of this country,” Mr Comey said. “I’m not talking about politics. … The president must be someone who respects the law and our Constitution. And there’s no one but Joe Biden.
Mr Comey, a one-time Republican, also warned against former President Donald Trump returning to the White House. The former FBI chief said Mr Trump would likely embark on four years of “retribution” if he was put in charge of the Oval Office again.
“He could order the pursuit of individuals he considers enemies. I’m sure I’m on the hater’s list,” Mr Comey said. “Because the president constitutionally fully oversees the executive branch, which includes the Justice Department, prosecutors and investigators.”
Mr Trump fired Mr Comey in 2017 as he led the FBI investigation into allegations that Russia conspired to help elect Mr Trump.
A four-year review of the FBI’s handling of the investigation by Special Counsel John Durham recently concluded that the bureau ignored guidelines, failed to consider information that contradicted claims that the campaign Trump colluded with Russia and failed to be objective.
Mr Durham found that FBI agents were so eager to prosecute Mr Trump that they defended “seriously misinformation” and abandoned their “own principles regarding objectivity and integrity”.
Mr. Comey, for his part, always pushes the notion of Russian collusion. He told NBC that Russian interference in the 2024 election could benefit Mr Trump’s return bid.
“[Russian President] Vladimir Putin does not want Joe Biden to be President of the United States for reasons that I hope the American people will see because he is acting in our national interests,” Comey said. “He would very much like Donald Trump to be president again … and so they will find ways to intervene.”