Former FBI Director James Comey said that his daughter was fired from the U.S. Attorney’s office because “she has my last name,” but “good people” are still holding on inside the Department of Justice, “sacrificing their careers to do the right thing” and stand up to Donald Trump. “Donald Trump has a bottomless desire to gain revenge against those who’ve criticized him,” Comey told MS NOW’s Nicole Wallace on Monday. “If he gets rid of [Acting Attorney General Todd] Blanche, he’ll try to find someone else. Look–at the bottom of every barrel, there are still apples. So he will find someone to do what he wants to do.” “Pam Bondi, I thought, was not a good fit for the role, and her standards were apparently too high,” he said.

NICOLLE WALLACE: The Washington Post reports on the men and women who have either been purged from or have left the Department of Justice. JAMES COMEY: Yeah, there’s a lot of pain in the department right now. Good people sacrificing their careers to do the right thing. I’m inspired by that, but I feel awful that they have to do it. And there are so many other good ones hanging on, trying not to have to leave the department. It’s a time of pain and loss for a lot of good people. That’s why I talked about them in my dedication and acknowledgments. NICOLLE WALLACE: What is your family’s pain like right now? JAMES COMEY: Look, it’s bad to be indicted. It’s bad when someone you love is indicted. But they’ve kind of gotten used to the fact that because I’ve been a critic of Donald Trump, I’m a target. I’m sure John Brennan’s family feels that way. Jim Clapper’s family and lots of others. There’s a cost to speaking up in this strange era – awful era. I think they accept that. I think they’re proud that I act the way I do. I’m not going to be quiet. I’m going to continue to speak about what I believe. But of course, it’s a burden for a family. That, to me, is the part that I regret. But they’re strong people. NICOLLE WALLACE: You had other family members serving in the department, your daughter and your son-in-law, right? JAMES COMEY: My daughter was a superstar prosecutor in the Southern District of New York and was fired only because she has my last name. That’s stupid. That’s immoral. That’s illegal, in my view. And painful. She’ll be okay. I mean, she got a job at a law firm, and someday I hope she’ll go back to the Department of Justice. My son-in-law, who was the deputy chief of national security at that Virginia U.S. attorney’s office, quit the day they first indicted me. Also, just a tragedy to have that apolitical talent leave the department. God willing, he’ll be back someday. But it both tells you the quality of the people that this organization typically has and the cost with Donald Trump at the top. NICOLLE WALLACE: Do you know Todd Blanche? Did you ever run in the same circles? JAMES COMEY: I don’t. I think he might have been a paralegal when I was the U.S. attorney there, but I don’t know. I’m not saying that to be facetious. No, he started out as a paralegal, which is an important role, but you don’t have much to do with the U.S. attorney. NICOLLE WALLACE: I ask because I went back and looked, and Donald Trump first used Twitter to call for prosecution in 2017 or 2018. And some combination of Don McGahn, then the White House counsel; Jeff Sessions, then the attorney general; Bill Barr, who came next – there was one guy in between – and then Pam Bondi, I guess, who allowed this to go forward, but only at great cost to that office, which was essentially hollowed out. The variable isn’t Donald Trump’s desire to see you prosecuted. It’s Todd Blanche. And so I wonder if you think there’s anything personal there. JAMES COMEY: I don’t think so. I think it’s just Donald Trump continuing to move through people until he finds those who will literally do whatever he says. Maybe he’s found that with Mr. Blanche, maybe not. Maybe his standards will be too high, as apparently Pam Bondi’s were, which is a bit of a shock. NICOLLE WALLACE: Saying something. JAMES COMEY: Yeah. And so she’s apparently headed for some important private sector job we haven’t heard about yet. That may be Mr. Blanche’s future, or maybe not. I don’t know. But Donald Trump has a bottomless desire to gain revenge against those who’ve criticized him. And I’m not going to stop criticizing him, because I think that’s required if you care about America. And so it will just keep going. If he gets rid of Blanche, he’ll try to find someone else. Look at the bottom of every barrel. There are still apples. And so he will find someone to do what he wants to do. NICOLLE WALLACE: Do you think that’s where we are with Todd Blanche, at the bottom of the barrel? JAMES COMEY: Only time will tell. I mean, Pam Bondi, I thought, was not a good fit for the role, and her standards were apparently too high. So we’ll see.

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