Comey says “they’re back again” and “I’m still innocent”
Reuters reported that Donald Trump called former FBI director James Comey a “dirty cop” while speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. When asked about Comey, Trump said, “I think he’s a dirty cop,” and added, “I don’t know much about it.”
According to court documents made public Monday, the Justice Department is attempting to prosecute Comey for a third time on the grounds that he shared sensitive national security information in 2016. The case was revealed in a criminal information filed in Washington federal court. The document charges Comey with transmitting and conspiring to transmit national defense information. It alleges that he shared classified information with a reporter from the New York Times in October 2016. The Justice Department said it filed the document to stop the 10-year statute of limitations on the offense from expiring earlier this month.
Comey responded in an Instagram video, saying, “they’re back again” and referring to the Justice Department, but he did not provide further details. He also said, “I’m still innocent.” His lawyers have already asked a judge to dismiss the case as legally improper, and the case remains before a federal judge.
Campaign stop and protester exchange
Trump also campaigned in Corinth, Mississippi, in support of Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith. Trump told the crowd that his rallies had “totally changed the dialogue” and said, “Nobody’s ever campaigned like I have for midterms.”
A vocal protester then attempted to engage Trump in dialogue about his ballroom and where it might be most appropriately located.
Trump’s other political comments
In its reporting, The Guardian wrote that Trump “lashed out in racist terms” at his predecessor, Barack Obama, for joking over the weekend that Trump’s renovation of the White House, with “gold everywhere,” had made “the White House looking like Saddam Hussein open a Cheesecake Factory.”
Trump told reporters that Obama “doesn’t notice dirt and filth” in the White House before Trump rehabilitated it. Trump said he was “a very clean person” but said, “you have to explain that to Obama,” because Obama “doesn’t understand” and is “not smart at all.”
The Guardian described Flávio Bolsonaro as Lula’s “far-right opponent” in reporting Trump’s comment on Brazil’s presidential election. Trump said the comeback victory of Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, over Flávio Bolsonaro, “looked like another rigged election, frankly.”