James Comey says he doesn't want to see Trump impeached

(Image credit: Screenshot/Twitter/ABC News)

Former FBI Director James Comey told ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos that President Trump is "morally unfit" to be president, primarily because he lies "constantly about matters big and small." But when Stephanopoulos, in their interview that aired Sunday night, asked if the correct remedy was to impeach Trump, Comey gave what he called "a strange answer":

I hope not, because I think impeaching and removing Donald Trump from office would let the American people off the hook and have something happen indirectly that I believe they're duty-bound to do directly. People in this country need to stand up and go to the voting booth and vote their values. We'll fight about guns. We'll fight about taxes. We'll fight about all those other things down the road. But you cannot have, as president of the United States, someone who does not reflect the values that I believe Republicans treasure and Democrats treasure and Independents treasure. That is the core of this country. That's our foundation. And so impeachment, in a way, would short circuit that. [James Comey, ABC News]

Earlier in the interview, Comey said Trump had demonstrated at least "some evidence of obstruction of justice," and he clarified after his impeachment comment that he's not saying Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his team should "stop doing their investigation or whatever flows from that. But in a way, as a citizen, I think we owe it to each other to get off the couch and think about what unites us."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.