Rudy Giuliani, who once served as New York City’s mayor, said in an interview with Newsmax on Sunday that he wishes he had never brought James Comey into the U.S. attorney’s office years ago. Giuliani described Comey as a prosecutor driven by the spotlight, accusing him of later turning the legal system into a weapon against political adversaries.
Comey, who once held the top post at the FBI and was at the center of investigations into major political figures, now faces a federal indictment for allegedly lying to Congress—a stunning reversal for someone who once led America’s primary law enforcement agency.
Speaking on Newsmax’s Sunday Agenda, Giuliani said the legal case against Comey validates concerns he had long harbored about Comey’s integrity and decision-making.
“It is very extraordinarily disappointing to have hired him,” Giuliani said. “I’m pretty realistic about things like that. I don’t worry myself about guilt that I can’t do anything about, because there’s plenty that I can do something about. I had no idea that he was anything but quite a good, but I can’t say great, but I can say average. He was a better-than-average to very good assistant U.S. attorney candidate.”
Giuliani, who oversaw the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan during the 1980s before moving into politics, recalled that Comey initially appeared to be a capable prosecutor without any red flags.
But he argued that Comey’s later record showed otherwise, pointing to the prosecution of lifestyle mogul Martha Stewart as the earliest indication that Comey cared more about fame than fairness.
“I thought the Martha Stewart case was the sign of a publicity-hungry, out-of-control prosecutor because of an unnecessary case,” Giuliani said. “You could look into your soul and very easily say, without any doubt, the case never would have been brought if it were your next-door neighbor, or just somebody else, or even a wealthy financial guy.”
At the time, Giuliani said his own approach was to impose civil remedies for first-time insider trading matters instead of bringing criminal indictments.
He insisted Stewart should have faced monetary penalties and restrictions, not incarceration.
“He went ahead. He made a big deal out of it. He made a jerk out of himself doing it,” Giuliani said.
Giuliani further accused Comey of using media events to boost his personal brand, rather than highlight the sacrifices of law enforcement officers.
“I use press conferences probably more than anyone, but never for self-aggrandizement,” Giuliani said. “When I said on 9/11 that I rested on the shoulders of giants, and it was the cops and the firefighters that did it, I had said that a thousand times as a U.S. attorney. He didn’t have that feeling. It was all about Jim Comey.”
According to Giuliani, Comey’s leadership style paved the way for what he views as partisan prosecutions targeting President Donald Trump and his associates.
“They’re the ones who weaponized, and now they’re pushing it on us,” he said, also noting that he himself has been hit with multiple charges that he believes are politically driven. “This is absolute Marxist tactics.”
Giuliani concluded by stressing that future prosecutions under any administration must steer clear of the excesses he blames on Comey.
“We don’t put leg irons on them. We don’t send the Gestapo into the Comey house at two in the morning with the press notified,” he said. “Don’t tell me they’re not fascist.”
{Matzav.com}
