Former FBI Director James Comey defended the Bureau’s conduct in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation of former President Donald Trump in response to Special Counsel John Durham’s final report.
Comey appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Tuesday and spoke about the Durham report’s revelations with host Willie Geist.
“Do you acknowledge perhaps that some mistakes were made along the way?” Geist asked. (RELATED: ‘Obstructionist’: Comer Issues New Deadline To FBI, Threatens Contempt)
“Oh, definitely. And they were found four years ago by the inspector general. So there’s nothing new in this new document,” Comey replied.
“What were some of those mistakes from your point of view?” Geist followed up.
“Oh, that the FBI didn’t communicate clearly the status of certain sources. They didn’t double-check certain information before putting it in a court application for foreign intelligence wiretap, and a bunch of others,” Comey said.
Nevertheless, he insisted to Geist that the Bureau did the right thing with Crossfire Hurricane. “But in complex investigations, there’s always going to be mistakes. It doesn’t mean the FBI is incompetent, honest and independent,” Comey said in response to another question.
“In the main, I think the FBI did it in the right way during a very difficult time in 2016,” he added.
Comey was referring to Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s December 2019 report about the Crossfire Hurricane probe.
Horowitz’s report found evidence of political bias among FBI officials who abused the FISA process and demonstrated how the discredited Steele Dossier played a central role in the FBI’s applications for FISA warrants. His report showed how the FBI relied on inaccurate information in its FISA applications to monitor Trump advisers such as Carter Page.
Comey admitted the FBI mistreated Page and said he was “wrong” about him after Horowitz’s report was released in an interview with Fox News.
John Durham found the FBI used “uncorroborated intelligence” when launching its Trump investigation and said the FBI “failed to uphold” its mission in the process.
When the Durham report came out May 15, the FBI admitted to the mistakes identified by Durham. Comey served as FBI Director from 2013 until he was fired by President Trump in 2017 after the Crossfire Investigation was underway.