Source: CNN
At the end of an interview with CNN Thursday afternoon, former FBI Director James Comey was asked by Jake Tapper about his unusual place in American politics as a man equally “reviled” by partisans of both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.Clinton’s most ardent supporters insist Comey had it in for their candidate in 2016 when, in the final weeks of the campaign, he told Congress that the feds had reopened their investigation into Clinton’s emails to conduct a search of Anthony Weiner’s laptop. The rage is understandable: There’s solid statistical evidence that the Comey announcement tipped the campaign to Trump (see Nate Silver’s analysis,
“The Comey Letter Probably Cost Clinton the Election,” for the full argument.) John Podesta, Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, recently said on CNN that he doubted Clinton could even bring herself to read Comey’s book.
Trump partisans revile Comey for the Russia investigation, for forcing the Justice Department to appoint a special counsel, which has served as a tightening noose around Trump’s presidency, and for Comey’s scorching portrait of the President, who has dubbed Comey a liar who should be jailed.
Comey reacted to Tapper’s question by noting that America’s heightened polarization has made the job of the FBI director historically difficult.
“The challenge of being the FBI in today’s political environment,” he said, “is you’re not on anybody’s side. That confuses people, which I get. And it angers people, which I also get. And there’s only so much you can do about it, except constantly try to show transparency. Show people your work. So that fair-minded people can make a judgment.”