Overview

• Comey said he “cringed” watching Director Kash Patel struggle to answer a Senate question about the bureau’s budget and felt “sorry for the guy.”
• He told CNN that nothing in Patel’s or Dan Bongino’s backgrounds gives him confidence they can run an organization like the FBI.
• Comey challenged the plan to zero in on the Jan. 6 D.C. pipe bombing, the 2023 White House cocaine discovery and the 2022 Supreme Court draft leak, noting those matters were handled by other agencies or never formally closed.
• He praised the expertise of career FBI agents and urged the political leadership to rely on their guidance.
• Comey also explained why he deleted a social media post after it was misinterpreted as a veiled threat against former President Trump.