James Comey claimed he cringed watching president Donald Trump's FBI director Kash Patel struggle to answer a basic question during a recent Senate hearing.
The former FBI director, who has earned Trump's enduring ire over the Russia probe during his first presidency, appeared Wednesday on CNN's "The Situation Room" to discuss his successor's handling of the job as the nation's top federal investigator, and he was unimpressed by his response to Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) asking about the bureau's tardy budget request.
"I cringe at that clip," Comey said. "I actually feel kind of sorry for the guy. It's like showing up for a final exam with no pencils and no paper and you didn't even know there's a final exam."
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"So I hope the career people are able to support the director and the deputy director," Comey added. "There are lot of people in the FBI who know what they're doing, I hope these two guys a letting them guide them."
Host Wolf Blitzer pointedly asked whether Comey believes that Patel and his deputy Dan Bongino knew what they were doing, but he demurred.
"The career people know what they're doing," Comey said, but Blitzer asked again about Trump's nominees to lead the FBI. "Nothing in their life or their career gives me confidence that they know anything about leading an organization like that, and so I would have serious doubts. I bet they do internally about whether they have doubt. Great, let the people who know what they're doing give you advice and listen to them."
Blitzer also asked the former FBI director about Bongino's announcement that investigations would be reopened into the D.C. pipe bombing case from Jan. 6, 2021, the discovery of cocaine at the White House during Joe Biden's presidency and the leak of the Supreme Court decision in the Dobbs case.
"I'm sure it's a huge adjustment to go from being a podcaster to being the deputy director of the FBI," Comey said. "But I don't understand this tweet. First of all, I assume that the investigation of the pipe bomb that was found on Jan. 6 was never closed. The FBI never closed such a thing, so I guess it means they're going to focus on it more, and as to the other things, I thought the Supreme Court marshal investigated the the leak of the of the opinion, the draft opinion. I don't know what the FBI's role is there. Cocaine at the White House, I thought the Secret Service investigated that."
"I don't follow it and understand it, I also don't understand who the audience is," Comey added. "This seems much more narrowly targeted, maybe to a former podcast audience."
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