Former FBI Director James Comey shut down speculation he would one day pursue political office, telling NPR it wasn't even a "close call."
"Never. I will never run for office. Not even a close call," he said.
Comey stoked speculation about his interest in higher office when in October he tweeted a series of photographs of a trip to Iowa, the home of the first caucuses in presidential election years.
Goodbye Iowa. On the road home. Gotta get back to writing. Will try to tweet in useful ways. pic.twitter.com/DCbu3Yvqt3
— James Comey (@Comey) October 23, 2017
Comey is the midst of a media tour to promote his book A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership. In the book, he blasts President Donald Trump as morally unfit to be in the White House and calls him "untethered to truth" while recounting his brief time in the Trump administration, as well as other moments in his long career in law enforcement.
Trump fired Comey last May, leading to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller to lead the Russia investigation.
Comey, who taught this year at Howard University, will teach next year at William and Mary, his alma mater.
"I'm going to teach about leadership and ethics, and so I'm going to be a professor, which is exciting, and speak about leadership," he said. "Travel around and speak about it. And I think by doing those things I can be useful. I'm going to use my book in the class and I'm going to buy it for the students, because I'm not going to be one of those professors."