GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Should you have said more there? Should you have said, "Mr. President, I can't discuss this with you. You're doing something improper?"

JAMES COMEY: Maybe. I mean, that-- that's also a fair criticism. Maybe I should have. Although, as I've thought about it since, if he didn't know he was doing something improper, why did he kick out the attorney general and the vice president of the United States and the leaders of the intelligence community? I mean, why am I alone if he's-- doesn't know the nature of the request?

But it's possible that in the moment I shoulda-- you know, another person would have said, "Sir, you can't ask me that. That's a criminal investigation. That could be obstruction of justice." Again, it's one of these deals where I'm so-- even though I knew something important was going to happen, it didn't occur to me he was going to ask me to drop a criminal investigation. And so a little bit of it is the shock of it, and part of it is just from the environment I think I had a good gut sense that he knows what he's doing.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: With that direction, was President Trump obstructing justice?

JAMES COMEY: Possibly. I mean, it's certainly some evidence of obstruction of justice. It would depend and-- and I'm just a witness in this case, not the investigator or prosecutor, it would depend upon other things that reflected on his intent.


So..... potentially, possibly, but, well, maybe, woulda, coulda, shoulda. Lot's and lot's of those answers in the interviews. For a person in the position he once held, those aren't the kind of answers anyone wants to hear, let alone the new President. While I don't buy everything Trump and Comey have said about the situation, Comey, aside from what he has to keep secret, seems to be anything but upfront and direct. I can see why Trump may not have liked him and didn't want him to remain in that type of position any longer. Trump obviously values people who are upfront and direct about situations, and Comey doesn't seem to fit those values. Trump not knowing Comey very well, also values loyalty and wanted it from him, showing allegiance to the Country and it's President, yet Comey wouldn't offer that either. Trump being a businessman and patriot, wouldn't like that very much.

I can't stand this guy >,

Comey is such a mess

Would you prefer he came out and just said "yes im 100% sure he obstructed justice" ?
Instead of saying "I think he coulda have, lets see what the investigation has to say about it".

some much for an obstruction of justice case against Trump.

Hard to charge someone for obstruction justice for firing a person that whenever ever they open their mouth makes it abundantly clear they never.... ever.... ever.... should have been anywhere close to the office they held.

I'd prefer he either give a solid yes, no, or no comment. He's not what you would call an everyday joe, based on his past position, and he's not a celebrity spewing whatever pops into their heads to keep the spotlight on themselves. He could be doing it to keep himself in the spotlight for whatever reason, like for his book, or whatever his "higher loyalty" is exactly...

He's also talking about the President. Now if Trump did do something wrong, then just shut up and let Mueller take care of it, because if your so sure that Trumps guilty, justice will be served. The media should only get solid evidence and minor details, but the people investigating Trump need the full scoop. If your not sure if he's guilty, then put a sock in it, because if he's innocent, you've just helped hold back progress due to all the nonsense the President has been dealing with since he took office. It would also make you look like you were potentially unfit for your prior position, which one would have to wonder why you were given that position in the first place, and how qualified really was that individual who hired you?

I'm sure lot's of Comey's past co-workers could constantly spill the beans about all of his faults and make him out to be a horrible person, and make his career hell going forward, when maybe he's not really that bad, and simply isn't perfect like the rest of us, which he alludes to in the interview. The reason they wouldn't do this, aside from the possibility that he was great at his job, is because if it needed to be taken care of, it would have been, behind closed doors, with the media only getting minor details here and there. Taking care of things like sophisticated adults do, like the type of people you would hire to protect a country and it's citizens.

The hot-takes on here are pretty hilarious: the IG report made it pretty clear that the NY FBI office had leaks, which led to Comey re-opening the Clinton investigation. We also know that the polls swung away from her when that happened, so it cost her the election. To say that Comey was the unpatriotic dishonest one, when Trump owes him his presidency (for the re-opened investigation and NOT publicly disclosing the Russia investigation into Trump) is rather absurd. Why would anyone trust the guy who just tweeted out that he didn't fire Comey for the reason he publicly stated he fired him for?

It would also be wise to look into Trumplandia and True Pundit, before commenting on how Comey handled the email investigation, all you Trump and Clinton homers. The implications for Trump, his media surrogates, and political allies are fairly damning.

Both serve the people, and both are supposed to work together. One has power over the other though. The fact of the matter is that Trump is saying I didn't do it, and so far most of the "evidence" that's leaked out, some by Comey himself, is pretty weak. That's just what we know though.

Maybe Trump felt he needed to distance himself from Comey and some others to better serve the people of the country. Just because Trump is a much easier target in many ways, by no means is proof he's the one at fault.

Exactly this! Is Comey going to put up a real assertion with evidence to backup or pussy out like a bitch ? Still waiting for him to say something of value rather than the soft bullshit that Trump usually gets from his other detractors ... 

This is why the internet holds no value for discussion. Anyone can say any outrageous thing without even bothering to justify it.

Comey is no mess. His story has been and remained consistant since the beggining and theres witnesses, memos and possibly telephone calls taped to prove it.

The mess is Trump. He contradicts himself, lies and misleads people on a daily basis on his twitter feed alone.