A C-SPAN morning program turned contentious Friday when anchor Greta Brawner challenged a caller who attempted to defend former FBI Director James Comey following his federal indictment.
Comey was charged with two counts of making false statements to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding, each carrying a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
The exchange occurred during Brawner’s call-in segment, where viewers are invited to share their perspectives on current events.
A male caller, identifying himself as a Democrat, argued that Comey had acted honorably during his tenure leading the FBI, including during his oversight of the investigation into President Donald Trump.
“His record speaks for itself,” the caller said.
“He’s a very honorable man. He served his country. He did everything by the book.”
Brawner quickly responded by referencing prior investigations into Comey’s handling of FBI materials.
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Pulling from an Associated Press report published in 2019, she read directly from findings of the Justice Department’s Inspector General.
The 2019 report concluded that Comey violated FBI policies when he gave the contents of one memo to a friend with instructions to provide the information to a reporter.
The report also found that Comey failed to return memos documenting private conversations with President Trump after he was dismissed in May 2017.
Instead, he retained copies in his personal safe at home and shared them with his personal lawyer without authorization.
“Comey also failed to return his memos to the FBI after he was dismissed in May of 2017, retaining copies of some of them in his personal safe at home, and sharing them with his personal lawyer without permission from the FBI,” Brawner read aloud.
The Inspector General’s report marked the second consecutive year of formal criticism of Comey’s conduct while at the FBI.
When Brawner pressed the caller for a response, he shifted to unrelated topics, invoking references to Mar-a-Lago, cryptocurrency, and other political topics.
“That’s the cost of doing business, okay!” he said, before pointing to the alleged classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago in 2022 and claiming the Trump family had attempted to launch a Bitcoin alternative.
The caller continued, “What about that? Did that ever get followed up on? What about all of the things he’s done making his own Bitcoin? Going after his political enemies? What about selling cars for Elon Musk on the White House lawn? If any other president had did that, especially Obama, what would we be hearing from the Republicans?”
Brawner remained composed as the conversation shifted away from Comey’s indictment and into broader political commentary.
The exchange highlighted the divide in public opinion over the former FBI director, who has long been a polarizing figure in Washington.
Comey’s indictment represents the most serious legal challenge he has faced since his dismissal in 2017.
The charges center on testimony he gave before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where prosecutors allege he knowingly misled lawmakers regarding his authorization of media leaks tied to an FBI investigation.
Comey first gained national attention in 2016 when he announced the reopening of the FBI’s review of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server.
After the election, he was tasked with overseeing elements of the intelligence community’s assessment of Russian activities during the campaign and whether they intersected with members of Trump’s team.
The case is expected to proceed in federal court, where prosecutors will seek to prove that Comey deliberately misrepresented his actions to Congress.
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