James Kallstrom, a former assistant director of the FBI, expressed his concern that the agency’s reputation has been sullied by FBI Director James Comey’s handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server, adding that other agents feel the same way.
Kallstrom appeared Tuesday evening on Fox News’ The Kelly File to discuss Comey’s recommendation to not bring charges against Clinton after calling her "extremely careless" with handling classified information. Kallstrom told host Megyn Kelly that he will no longer defend Comey and that the FBI chief has reached a "nonsensical conclusion" in the Clinton investigation.
"I have defended him in the past, but those days are over Megyn," Kallstrom said. "I thought the events of the last week there was something fishy going on, and here he does, he goes through the whole charging memo. You know, he reads every paragraph of it and then he comes to that nonsensical conclusion that really wasn’t his to make."
Kallstrom also said he has spoken to two prosecutors who "would take that case in a heartbeat," adding that he has spoken with about 15 current and former agents who "are basically worried about the reputation of the agency they love, that they’ve worked hard for all their life."
Kallstrom said it was not Comey’s right to damage the FBI and that he believes Comey bent to political pressure when he gave his statement on Tuesday. Kallstrom strongly condemned the investigation and said that somebody is lying.
"But lying in Washington is a hard thing to explain to your children and you grandchildren and it’s just something that goes on day in and day out," Kallstrom said. "It’s not what this country was founded on; it’s not what this country’s about."
Kelly mentioned to Kallstrom that in other cases Comey referenced on Tuesday, there was intent to commit wrongdoing. Kallstrom called that claim "a red herring."
"Well, when you tell your staff to remove the classified markings, you know, in some of those they don’t even need intent, so I think that’s a red herring," Kallstrom said.