Sen. Susan Collins said Sunday that she wishes former FBI Director James Comey would have held off on releasing his book.
‘I cannot imagine why an FBI director would seek to essentially cash in on a book when the investigation is very much alive,’ she told Meet the Press host Chuck Todd, pointing toward the Mueller probe. ‘He should have waited to do his memoir.’
Todd had first asked the Maine Republican if she thought that Mueller was coloring within his lines.
Sen. Susan Collins told NBC News’ Chuck Todd that she would have preferred former FBI Director James Comey to have held off from releasing his book
Former FBI Director James Comey, seen testifying before Congress in June 2017, has been on a media tour to promote his new book
‘I believe he’s staying within the parameters,’ Collins said.
Collins pointed out how Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team had punted longtime Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s case to the U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York, instead of handling it as part of the Russia probe.
Earlier this month, Cohen’s office, hotel room and home were raided by the FBI, in a move approved by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees the Mueller probe.
Todd then asked the moderate Republican senator what she thought of Comey’s book tour.
Last Sunday, Comey sat down with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos, and has been participating in media interviews nearly every single day, as part of the release of his new book ‘A Higher Loyalty.’
‘Well, If I were advising a future FBI Director I would say two things. One: always follow the Department of Justice’s protocols and guidelines, which unfortunately James Comey did not do in the Hillary Clinton investigation,’ she said.
In July 2016, Comey held his own press conference to announce the FBI’s recommendations – that no reasonable prosecutor would charge the ex-secretary of state with a crime.
‘And he did not do when he leaked documents that were FBI work documents to a friend of his knowing that they would go to the press,’ Collins continued.
Comey leaked his memos, which recounted his interactions with President Trump, to reporters through a friend.
‘So that would be my first advice,’ Collins said. ‘The second would be don’t write a book in the middle of an investigation that’s ongoing.’
Todd asked Collins if Comey’s book could be ‘potentially disruptive to the Mueller probe.’
‘That’s what worries me,’ Collins said.