Bret Baier says James Comey 'crowing' about avoiding an indictment is 'a little rich'
The inspector general's report is 'not a good look' for James Comey, who portrays himself as a 'man of the law who follows the rules,' says Bret Baier, anchor of 'Special Report.'
Information documented in part of Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report proves not to be a “good look” for former FBI Director James Comey, said “Special Report” host Bret Baier on Thursday.
Appearing on “America’s Newsroom,” Baier told anchor Sandra Smith: “James Comey is essentially crowing about avoiding an indictment from the DOJ, which is a little rich if you think about it going back to everything that the former FBI director said as FBI director.”
“I mean, if you go into this report in detail, it is not a good look for the former FBI director. The IG [concluded] that Comey’s tension-handling and dissemination of certain memos violated department and FBI policy and his FBI employment agreement.”
“It says he set a dangerous example for the over 35,000 current employees,” Baier said. “Not a bad example -- a dangerous example.”
The release of the report Thursday morning revealed that Comey violated FBI policies in his handling of memos documenting private conversations with President Trump in the weeks before he was fired.
The report stated that Comey broke the FBI’s rules by giving a memo containing unclassified information to a friend with instructions to leak the contents to the New York Times.
In addition, Comey also failed to notify the FBI in May of 2017 that he had retained some of the memos in a safe at home.
After the release, Comey himself took to Twitter calling for his own vindication.
“I don’t need a public apology from those who defamed me," Comey said, "but a quick message with a ‘sorry we lied about you’ would be nice.”
TRUMP SLAMS 'THOROUGHLY DISGRACED' COMEY OVER INSPECTOR GENERAL FINDINGS
“This report definitively says he is a leaker,” Baier said.
That said, the Inspector General also concluded that none of the information shared with the Times reporter was classified and that the department has already decided not to prosecute Comey over the matter.
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Baier explained to Smith, “Now, the DOJ makes the determination they’re not going to move forward with prosecution of leaking classified material. But, that doesn’t take away from what happened, what transpired, and how it’s characterized in these 80-plus pages.”
“The prosecutors have to look at whether they can make a case that stands up and can be prosecuted effectively or whether they don’t think that they can do that. And, they made that decision,” Baier stated.
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