President Donald Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani blasted former FBI Director James Comey on Friday, stating that “no one really respects him or wants to hear from him,” The Hill reports.
Giuliani suggested that neither Democrats nor Republicans respect the former FBI chief. The Democrats, according to the lawyer, wanted Comey fired for violating Justice Department ethics in “sliming” then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. The Republicans, according to Giuliani, believe Comey “committed perjury and abused his power as FBI Director.”
The president’s attorney was responding to Comey’s criticism of Attorney General William Barr. In a Twitter message posted on Friday, Comey accused Barr of “sliming” the Justice Department, suggesting that the attorney general is acting like President Trump’s attorney and spokesman.
“The AG should stop sliming his own Department. If there are bad facts, show us, or search for them professionally and then tell us what you found. An AG must act like the leader of the Department of Justice, an organization based on truth. Donald Trump has enough spokespeople.”
As The Hill notes, it comes as no surprise that Comey is taking aim at Barr, given that his firing in 2017 appears to have turned him into a vocal Trump critic. The former FBI chief’s comments were in reference to Barr’s appearance on Fox News, during which the attorney general defended the administration’s decision to investigate the origins of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe.
Signaling that the administration is willing to get to the bottom of the issue, Barr reportedly assigned a federal prosecutor earlier this week to review the actions of intelligence officials which appear to have lead to the launching of Mueller’s investigation. Much like President Trump, Barr has claimed that “spying” took place during the summer of 2016.
Comey tells AG Barr: Be a leader and stop ‘sliming’ your own people https://t.co/F30UC30bnr pic.twitter.com/lwdb2DglRO
— Yahoo News (@YahooNews) May 18, 2019
According to the president and the attorney general, intelligence officials spied on the Trump campaign. But FBI Director Christopher Wray disagrees with their assessment. During a congressional hearing earlier this month, Wray said that “spying” is not a term he would use to describe the situation. His comments prompted President Trump to describe the testimony as “ridiculous.”
Rudy Giuliani appears to have become Donald Trump’s “attack dog,” according to CNN , given that he is now targeting U.S. intelligence officials and Trump’s Democratic opponents. The lawyer recently took aim at Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, targeting his son Hunter’s alleged ties with Ukrainian businesses.
Biden campaign calls Giuliani’s effort to get Ukraine to investigate him a “blatantly political smear” https://t.co/NJegnYvek2 pic.twitter.com/5yMVoIDnB9
— The Hill (@thehill) May 12, 2019
As previously reported by The Inquisitr , Giuliani even planned a trip to Ukraine to discuss the matter with the country’s president-elect but canceled it following intense backlash from Democratic lawmakers.
