Ousted FBI director James Comey admits being ‘overconfident’ in approving Trump probe

James Comey, the former FBI director, agreed on Sunday with the conclusions of an independent investigator that found flaws in the agency’s decision to probe individuals in Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

“He’s right, I was wrong.” Comey, who was fired by Trump in May 2017, said on Fox News Sunday. “I was overconfident, as director, in the procedures that the FBI and Justice have built over 20 years.”

It was the first television interview by Comey since Monday’s release of the Justice Department Inspector General’s report into how the Federal Bureau of Investigation came in 2016 to investigate people associated with Trump’s campaign.

The report provided a rare, extensive view into the FBI’s investigative work, from deciding to open the investigation in the first place to using confidential informants and obtaining secret warrants to conduct surveillance.

Michael Horowitz’s two-year study and the 434-page report that resulted showed no systemic bias against Trump in opening the 2016 investigation, but outlined “at least 17 significant errors or omissions” concerning FBI efforts.

“There was real sloppiness,” Comey said. “Seventeen things, these should have been in the applications, or at least discussed and characterised differently. It was not acceptable.”