Washington Free Beacon editor in chief Matthew Continetti compared former Special Counsel Robert Mueller to former FBI Director James Comey after Mueller's press conference Wednesday.
Continetti's comments came during a panel discussion on Fox News Channel's Special Report, after host Bret Baier asked Continetti about comparisons to Comey.
"What about Matthew, quickly, the thing that I talked with Brit [Hume] about the comparisons or contrasts with Jim Comey coming out about Hillary Clinton?" Baier asked, speaking in reference to Comey's controversial 2016 comments about Hillary Clinton's private email server.
"The American Bar Association says that in its professional conduct that 'the prosecutor in a criminal case shall refrain from making extra-judicial comments that have a substantial likelihood of heightening public condemnation of the accused,'" Baier said. "Obviously it's a different scenario with the special counsel, but a lot of people are looking at Comey and what he said about Hillary Clinton, to what Mueller said about President Trump."
"That's right, and if there is one rule since 2016, it's don't be Jim Comey," Continetti answered. "I don't think Bob Mueller is Jim Comey, I do not expect him to start writing op-eds for the Washington Post, attacking the president. As he said, he is done. On the other hand, by reopening the issue in the middle of the highly combustible debate over impeachment, he has inserted himself in the debate in the same way that Comey did in 2016."
Democratic calls for impeachment have increased over the past few weeks, with a number of 2020 candidates redoubling their calls after Mueller's Wednesday morning press conference. Sens. Cory Booker (N.J.), Kamala Harris (Calif.), former representative Beto O'Rourke (Texas), and former Obama administration official Julian Castro all took to Twitter to voice their support for impeachment.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), to whom House Democrats look for the blessing to begin impeachment proceedings, responded by saying the House "will continue to investigate and legislate to protect our elections and secure our democracy."