United States President Donald Trump has suggested that former CIA director John Brennan and ex-FBI chief James Comey may have to “pay a price” amid reports that the two men are under criminal investigation.
Asked about reports on Wednesday that Brennan and Comey are being investigated by the FBI, Trump said he did not know anything other than what he had read in the news, but he viewed both as “very dishonest people”.
“I think they’re crooked as hell and maybe they have to pay a price for that,” Trump told reporters during a meeting with African leaders at the White House.
“I believe they are truly bad people and dishonest people, so whatever happens happens.”
Fox News, which first reported on the probe, said the two men were being scrutinised over unspecified “potential wrongdoing” related to investigations into the 2016 Trump campaign’s connections to Russia.
Multiple other outlets, including CNN and The New York Times, confirmed the investigation.
The FBI declined to comment. The US Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment.
In an interview with MSNBC, Brennan said he had not been contacted by the authorities, but any investigation was “clearly” politically biased.
“I think this is, unfortunately, a very sad and tragic example of the continued politicisation of the intelligence community, of the national security process,” Brennan said.
“And quite frankly, I’m really shocked that individuals are willing to sacrifice their reputations, their credibility, their decency.”
Comey did not respond to a request for comment sent through his website.
Trump has repeatedly hit out at Brennan and Comey over their role in what he has dubbed the “Russia hoax”.
A 2019 report released by special counsel Robert Mueller concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to benefit Trump, but did not find that his campaign “conspired or coordinated” with Moscow.
The post Trump assails ex-FBI, CIA heads amid reports of criminal probe appeared first on Al Jazeera.
