Fox News’ Tucker Carlson lambasted fired FBI Director James Comey in his opening statement Monday night, saying the G-Man’s “deeply revealing” interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos proved he “never should have been FBI director.”
Carlson began by pointing out that the double standard by which Comey operated during his years at the FBI and Justice Department proved he was “too partisan” for the job.
“The real value of this interview was what it said about James Comey,” Tucker argued. “By the end, you realize that Comey never should have been FBI director.”
“Trump’s main mistake was in not firing him on Inauguration Day,” he said.
“Comey defends his prosecution of Martha Stewart, who you remember went to jail for lying to federal prosecutors. He then attacks General David Petraeus,” Carson said.
Petraeus was engulfed in a scandal in 2012 over an affair with his biographer Paula Broadwell, with whom he allegedly shared classified information.
“According to Comey, General Petraeus should have faced far more than a lone charge for mishandling classified information. He should have gone to prison for lying,” Tucker pointed out.
Carlson said he generally agrees with holding the powerful “accountable for their misdeeds,” but saw an inconsistency with how Comey handled those cases and the Marc Rich case.
“On his way out of office, Bill Clinton sold a presidential pardon to a wanted felon who had fled the country,” Tucker explained. “Comey is unambiguous about that case: ‘I’ve never heard of another case where a fugitive from justice was pardon.’ So Stephanopoulos then asks the obvious question: ‘Did you draw any conclusions about the Clintons — about Hillary Clinton — from those experiences?’ Comey’s response? ‘Nope! None at all!’
Selling a presidential pardon to a fugitive says nothing whatsoever about the Clintons or their character — and by the way , Comey goes on to say, that Hillary Clinton is awfully smart and hard-working.”
Tucker pointed out that Loretta Lynch got the same “soft treatment” from Comey after she forced him to use the word “matter” — the Clinton campaign’s terminology — to describe the 2016 criminal investigation into her mishandling of classified information of her unsecure server.
Comey has acknowledged that the directive made him feel “uncomfortable,” but told Stephanopoulos he couldn’t really know if Lynch was trying to protect Clinton.
“Comey goes on to say Loretta Lynch is a very smart and good person whom he respects very much,” mocked Carlson.
“There’s a theme here,” he continued. “Partisan Democrats get every benefit of every doubt from Jim Comey. He can’t rush to conclusions, that is until he sees the white circles under Donald Trump’s eyes — then he’s happy to speculate.”
Carlson found it ironic that Comey constantly says lying is what bothers him most.
“He’s devoted his life to fighting against dishonesty,” said Carson, pointing out incredulously that James Clapper is the public servant Comey admires most. Clapper, of course, lied to Congress in 2013 about NSA spying, “but unlike Martha Stewart, James Clapper got away with that and; Jim Comey is happy that he did,” said Carlson.
The host also found it revealing that Comey took for granted the disputed notion that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election on Trump’s behalf. “But we absolutely do not know that for certain,” Tucker argued, accusing the former FBI director of “passing off speculation as fact.”
The interview also revealed that while Comey was still working in the Trump administration as FBI director, his friends and family — including his wife Patrice Comey — actively supported Hillary Clinton and attended the grotesque Women’s March one day after Trump’s ‘s inauguration to protest him.
“Jim Comey was the director of the FBI working for President Donald Trump! Virtually his entire family marched against his boss!” Tucker exclaimed.
Carlson concluded that the interview proved Comey was “highly political” and his anti-Trumpism affected how he approached his job in the Trump administration.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member