According to Bloomberg News' White House correspondent, a journalist is like an FBI agent. During a segment on CNN's New Day about FBI Director James Comey's handling of investigations, especially regarding whether there was collusion between President Donald Trump's campaign and Russia during the 2016 election, Shannon Pettypiece said, "I think sometimes in journalism, we say what everyone is complaining and talking about your bias, so you must be doing a great job because both sides are angry with you."
"I think maybe that’s what he is going for here. He does risk becoming too toxic where he just gets tuned out where he does get viewed as partisan," Pettypiece added. "That is a dangerous place for the director of the FBI to be in."
At the annual dinner Wednesday for the nonpartisan Intelligence and National Security Alliance, Comey addressed his decision making despite partisan criticism. "This is a challenge I face when I testify in front of Congress. It is not a criticism of Congress," Comey said. "They see facts as it how it affects my side. When they encounter people, and I'm one of 37,000 like this at the FBI, who never considers sides, it is confusing. I know when I make a hard decision, a storm will follow, but honestly, I don't care."
During the CNN discussion, the New York Times' Alex Burns chimed in about Comey coming under partisan fire. "There's no FBI director in my lifetime who has been so overly politicized than James Comey. Partly because of the investigations he had to handle. There has not been in my lifetime multiple candidates yielding FBI investigations in the middle of the election," Burns said.
"If you are James Comey and you are the FBI director, you may not have a partisan political goal, but you have a political goal and governing goal of maintaining power and credibility as a law man," Burns added.
Ironically, Pettypiece displayed her liberal bias earlier this week when she said that the best way to fix ObamaCare was to create "more subsidies and regulations."
Here is the transcript of the March 30th exchange:
New Day With Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota
03/30/2017
6:08:33 AM - 6:11:09 AM [2 min., 36 sec.]
ALISYN CAMEROTA: Alex, last night, James Comey, Director of the FBI, was at the dinner. Intel and National Security Alliance Leadership Dinner. He spoke. He gave a window into what many see as his mystified decision-making process. Listen to. This.
[ROLL CLIP]
JAMES COMEY: This is a challenge I face when I testify in front of Congress. It is not a criticism of Congress. They see facts as it how it affects my side. When they encounter people, and I'm one of 37,000 like this at the FBI, who never considers sides, it is confusing. I know when I make a hard decision, a storm will follow, but honestly, I don't care.
JOHN BERMAN: Apparently not.
ALEX BURNS: There's no FBI director in my lifetime who has been so overly politicized than James Comey. Partly because of the investigations he had to handle. There has not been in my lifetime multiple candidates yielding FBI investigations in the middle of the election. It is striking to see his critics on the Democratic side and to a lesser extent on the Republican side shifting back and forth over the last year between shame on him for exonerating Hillary Clinton and shame on him. Shame on him for speaking to Congress. If you are James Comey and you are the FBI director, you may not have a partisan political goal, but you have a political goal and governing goal of maintaining power and credibility as a law man. That's what we're seeing him try to do now to show people who are skeptical of him toward the end of the campaign and the democratic anger of James Comey is extraordinary.
CAMEROTA: And his motivations. You do hear him trying to become vindicated to say I don't have partisan motivations. I'm trying to talk about the facts.
BURNS: He sounds like a Supreme Court nominee. I call balls and strikes. That may be true or may not be true. It is the monster he has to maintain.
SHANNON PETTYPIECE: I think sometimes in journalism, we say what everyone is complaining and talking about your bias, so you must be doing a great job because both sides are angry with you. I think maybe that’s what he is going for here. He does risk becoming too toxic where he just gets tuned out where he does get viewed as partisan. That is a dangerous place for the director of the FBI to be in.
BURNS: It is interesting. Trying to force the House Intelligence Committee to get the act together and talk to them until Adam Schiff and Devin Nunes get on the same page.
