Former FBI Director James Comey said Tuesday that the Justice Department can’t fulfill its role to uphold the rule of law in the U.S. while it also fixates on those who criticize President Donald Trump.
“I think it’s really important for the Department of Justice to be just and to make decisions just based on facts and law,” Comey said in an interview with NBC News.
Comey said the Justice Department “has to be the guardian” of making decisions “without regard to race or wealth or politics.”
The Justice Department has sought to prosecute many of Trump’s political enemies, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and former CIA Director John Brennan.
Justice Department officials also sought to indict six members of Congress, including Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., after they encouraged service members to ignore illegal orders. A grand jury refused to indict the lawmakers.
“The department cannot target people like an Adam Schiff or Letitia James or Sen. Kelly because the president doesn’t Like what they say,” Comey said. “It just can’t be that way and still have it uphold the rule of law in this country.”
The Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
A judge dismissed indictments of Comey and James in November, determining that the federal prosecutor had been unconstitutionally appointed.
Comey had been indicted on charges of making a false statement to Congress and obstructing a congressional investigation. He pleaded not guilty. James had been indicted on charges of bank fraud and making a false statement to a financial institution. She also pleaded not guilty. The Justice Department is appealing.
Last month, Justice officials indicted Comey again, this time over a May 2025 Instagram photo of seashells. The shells were arranged to spell out “8647,” which the administration argues was a threat against Trump.
Comey has said it wasn’t a threat. The term “86” is widely considered to be restaurant speak for being out of something. The number 47 is a reference to Trump, the 47th president.
Comey said Tuesday that he believes Trump’s continued efforts to prosecute him are an effort to silence criticism and to send a message to others who might do the same.
“I don’t wake up in the middle of the night thinking about him, but he does thinking about me,” Comey said. “It’s one, he wants to try and silence my criticism, and two, he wants to send a message to others who might consider speaking, that this is what will happen if you speak out.”
Trump said recently that Comey was a “dirty cop” and a “crooked man.”
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said this month that there was a “body of evidence” against Comey that goes beyond just the Instagram post, but he said he isn’t “permitted” to share it at this point.
Comey said Tuesday that while he isn’t sure whether the Trump administration is pursuing any other indictments against him, he and other Trump critics need to be ready to become targets.
“I think we should all be prepared that they will continue to use the power of the Justice Department to please Donald Trump and try to meet his desire for retribution against people who have spoken out,” he said.
