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James Comey faces questions at CNN town hall

By Veronica Rocha and Brian Ries, CNN

Updated 1:00 AM ET, Thu April 26, 2018

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8:51 p.m. ET, April 25, 2018

What Comey thinks about the so-called "deep state"

CNN's Anderson Cooper asked Comey what gives him the belief that institutions like the FBI are strong enough to handle the criticism they face from the White House.

"Because I know them," Comey said. "And because I know no president serves long enough to destroy the culture at the root of them."

Of the term "deep state" that Trump supporters so frequently throw around when speaking of Trump critics in US government, he said, "There is no deep state but there is a deep culture. The fundamental values that are at our constitution that runs deep. The FBI, the justice department as a whole. The intelligence community. It is the ballast that gives me comfort and I hope gives all Americans comfort."

"If we are silent," he added, "tremendous damage will be done that will take us time to recover."

8:31 p.m. ET, April 25, 2018

Why Comey thinks Clinton would’ve made a better president: "Values"

Comey said he felt the American people "were faced with a historic choice between the two least popular and least trusted candidates in modern history," but Clinton is more "respectful of the norms and traditions that I am so worried about being eroded today," and so that's why he thinks she would've made a better president than President Trump. That answer, Comey explained, was based on "values."

8:50 p.m. ET, April 25, 2018

Comey says he spoke out about the Clinton emails because "concealing would be catastrophic"

Former FBI Director James Comey was asked why he announced — less than two weeks before the presidential election — that the bureau would investigate more emails potentially related to Hillary Clinton's private server.

He said the department had to weigh whether they should speak out about the Clinton emails or conceal it.

"It was a nightmare of a decision, but we chose to speak because it was bad, catastrophic was the second option. Concealing would be catastrophic to the organizations of justice, so that's why we chose it," he said

8:31 p.m. ET, April 25, 2018

Why Comey says he didn’t break the law by releasing his memos to the media

James Comey said President Trump is "just making stuff up" when the President says his former FBI director broke the law by releasing or leaking his memos.

"The bottom line, is I see no credible claim by any serious person that that violated the law," Comey said.

Comey and Anderson Cooper then had an interesting exchange that revealed Comey seems to believe a "leak" is specifically when classified information is intentionally released to the public.

"I intentionally gave this information to a friend, intending that it be out in the media. I wanted it to get out in the media. As a private citizen I could do that and did do that just as I written about it in my book," Comey said.

8:11 p.m. ET, April 25, 2018

Why Comey didn’t stand up to Trump

CNN's Anderson Cooper asked former FBI Director James Comey why he didn't stand up in some of those moments he has said made him uncomfortable.

"I’m sure I could have done it better if I had been better prepared for those moments," Comey said.

He added that he was, at times, preoccupied with remembering the exchanges that he didn't think to tell the President that the exchange or request was inappropriate.

8:18 p.m. ET, April 25, 2018

Comey: I don't believe Trump is "morally fit" to be president

Former FBI Director James Comey opened tonight's CNN town hall by answering a question about whether President Trump was fit to be President.

Comey was clear: "My concern is with his moral fitness."

"I don't believe he is morally fit to be president of the United States," he said. "I never thought I would say that about a president."

8:00 p.m. ET, April 25, 2018

Here are 7 things to know about James Comey

From CNN's Gregory Krieg

Former FBI Director James Comey is an unlikely candidate to take center stage in the most charged political drama of this generation, but history shows he has a tendency to turn up in the headlines.

Here are some them:

He delivered an unprecedented "October Surprise" in the 2016 election. He announced — less than two weeks before the presidential election — that the bureau would investigate more emails potentially related to Hillary Clinton's private server.
Comey opposed Bush White House officials in a dramatic standoff. When then-Attorney General John Ashcroft was hospitalized in 2004, Bush officials rushed to his side in an effort to have him sign off on an extension to the wiretapping program, which Justice Department attorneys had deemed illegal, according to Comey's account. The weakened Ashcroft managed to make clear his refusal and Gonzales and Card left the room -- with Comey, then Ashcroft's top deputy, watching on -- without a word.
He prosecuted Martha Stewart. Comey brought a series of charges against Stewart in 2003 in connection with a dodgy 2000 stock deal. She was ultimately convicted and sentenced to five months in prison.
He'd investigated the Clintons previously. Their first run-in came in the mid-1990s, when Comey joined the Senate Whitewater Committee as a deputy special counsel. In 2002, Comey, then a federal prosecutor, took over an investigation into President Bill Clinton's 2001 pardon of financier Marc Rich, who had been indicted on a laundry list of charges before fleeing the country
Comey was locked up and held at gunpoint. In October 1977, he and his younger brother were held captive in their home by the so-called "Ramsey Rapist."
He was overwhelmingly confirmed by the Senate in 2013. Comey became the seventh FBI director when he was confirmed by the Senate on July 29, 2013, by a 93-1 count, with Sen. Rand Paul the lone holdout. He succeeded Robert Mueller III.
Comey was a registered Republican for many years. In testimony on Capitol Hill, he insisted that his FBI is "resolutely apolitical." Comey himself, however, does have a partisan past — as a Republican.

7:52 p.m. ET, April 25, 2018

How the Comey memos helped lead to the special counsel investigation

Robert Mueller was appointed as special counsel last May, more than a week after President Trump's fired former FBI Director James Comey.

The Trump administration attributed Comey's dismissal to his handling of the investigation into Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's email server.

Soon after the firing, news emerged that Comey kept contemporaneous memos on his conversations with Trump, claiming Trump had asked him to end the investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Following reports of the memos, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein selected appointedMueller to lead a special counsel probe into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election and potential coordination between Trump's associates and Russia.

The next month, Comey testified for nearly three hours before the Senate intelligence committee. He detailed his interactions with Trump during the blockbuster testimony.

These were some of the takeaways:

— Trump asked him to let an investigation go. He said Trump privately urged him to drop the probe into ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn.

— Comey testified that Lynch pressed him not to call the FBI's Clinton email an "investigation," but instead call it a "matter."

— Comey said Trump is liar, a lot. He said the entire reason he took notes of his meetings with Trump was because he believed Trump would lie about them.

7:48 p.m. ET, April 25, 2018

The Comey memos were released last week. Here's what's in them.

From CNN's Jeremy Herb

Former FBI Director James Comey's memos were provided to Congress on Thursday and obtained by CNN the same day. The memos include documentation of seven conversations he had with President Trump from January 7, 2017, through April 11, 2017.

Four of the notes are classified and have been partially redacted, and three of them are unclassified. Here are some details from the memos:

Comey wrote how Trump's "serious reservations" about then-national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Trump frequently brought up leaks to the media and they discussed trying to find the source of the leaks.
Trump also at least twice brought up the "golden showers thing" and said he was concerned even if there was a small chance his wife had thought it was true.
President Vladimir Putin allegedly told Trump that Russia had the "most beautiful hookers in the world."

Why the Comey memos are important

The contemporaneous notes that Comey compiled have already had a major impact:

They helped lead to the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel
Formed the basis of Trump's constant criticism that Comey is "a leaker"
Sparked accusations that Comey provided classified information to a friend.