'This country would see this as a coup': James Comey doesn't want Trump impeached
WASHINGTON – Former FBI Director James Comey said in an opinion piece on Thursday that he did not want President Donald Trump to be impeached from office, writing that forcing him from office would only deepen the divide in the nation.
"I do have one hope that I should confess," Comey wrote in the New York Times. "I hope that Mr. Trump is not impeached and removed from office before the end of his term."
Comey, who was fired by Trump in 2017 from heading the FBI and overseeing the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, also wrote about what he hopes to see from the final report by special counsel Robert Mueller, appointed after Comey's firing, about Russia's role in the 2016 election.
He wrote that he was not "rooting" for Mueller to show that Trump "is a criminal," adding "I'm also not rooting for Mr. Mueller to 'clear' the president."
"I'm not rooting for anything at all, except that the special counsel be permitted to finish his work, charge whatever cases warrant charges and report on his work," Comey wrote.
More: Exclusive: Nancy Pelosi pushes back on Democratic critics of her impeachment stance
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While not taking any position on Trump's fate within the report, Comey did take a stand against calls for his impeachment, writing that while he believes that "Trump is morally unfit to be president," an attempt to oust him from office would further divide the country.
"If Mr. Trump were removed from office by Congress, a significant portion of this country would see this as a coup, and it would drive those people farther from the common center of American life, more deeply fracturing our country," he wrote.
Since the 2018 midterm elections, where Democrats took control of the House, the issue of impeachment has been a focal point and something that has divided members, including many progressives who oppose the president.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told USA TODAY on Monday that impeaching Trump would be "a gift to the president."
"You're wasting your time, unless the evidence is so conclusive that the Republicans will understand," Pelosi, D-Calif., told USA TODAY. "Otherwise, it's a gift to the president. We take our eye off the ball."
The speaker said, instead of impeachment, Democrats needed to stay united in pushing through legislation that they campaigned on, such as addressing rising health-care costs and creating jobs. Pelosi said some House progressives have "wanted to impeach the president since the day he got elected."
Comey said that instead of impeachment, the American people should be the ones to say whether the president should no longer hold office. That, he said, should be left up to the 2020 election.
"We need a resounding election result in 2020, where Americans of all stripes, divided as they may be about important policy issues — immigration, guns, abortion, climate charges, regulation, taxes — take a moment from their busy lives to show that they are united by something even more important: the belief that the president of the United States cannot be a chronic liar who repeatedly attacks the rule of law," Comey wrote.
Comey and his firing have been a lightning rod of contention throughout the investigation, specifically over concerns whether his dismissal constitutes obstruction of justice by President Trump. Trump has continued to repeatedly criticize the former FBI head, most recently in a tweet Wednesday evening where he accused Comey of leaking information about the Russia investigation.
Comey appeared in December before Congress in a closed-door session to testify about the Russia investigation and his decision not to prosecute former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for her use of a private email server in 2016.
Contributing: Eliza Collins and Kevin Johnson
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'This country would see this as a coup': James Comey doesn't want Trump impeached
