--- title: James Comey Can't Be Trusted With Trump-Russia Investigation description: There is no question any investigation needs to be entirely independent canonical: https://time.com/4634613/comey-fbi-investigation/ author: Matthew Miller article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-13T18:01:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:54:45.247Z article:section: Ideas og:title: James Comey Can't Be Trusted With Trump-Russia Investigation og:description: There is no question any investigation needs to be entirely independent og:url: https://time.com/4634613/comey-fbi-investigation/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5e4261c3b7434be5/6988b58d656a3ff3bebce636/jim-comey.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-CONGRESS-DEFENCE og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: James Comey Can't Be Trusted With Trump-Russia Investigation twitter:description: There is no question any investigation needs to be entirely independent twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5e4261c3b7434be5/6988b58d656a3ff3bebce636/jim-comey.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # James Comey Cannot Be Trusted With a Trump-Russia Investigation > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Inside TIME: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Inside TIME is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories. Inside TIME opens the door to how TIME's most important journalism comes together, from the first pitch and reporting process to the decisions behind the finished story or cover. Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs takes readers inside the newsroom, revealing the journalists, ideas and editorial choices behind the stories shaping the global conversation. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ## Video: Russian Hacking and the Presidential Election [Watch (HLS stream): Russian Hacking and the Presidential Election](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/nKHzZpx8.m3u8) (1:55)  _Published 2017-01-05. An overview of the controversy surrounding claims of Russia's involvement in hacking that allegedly undermined the 2016 U.S. presidential election._ by [Matthew Miller](https://time.com/author/matthew-miller/) ## Matthew Miller Jan 13, 2017 6:01 PM UTC  Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey testifies before the House Appropriations Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on Feb. 25, 2016. Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey testifies before the House Appropriations Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on Feb. 25, 2016. Jim Watson—AFP/Getty Images by [Matthew Miller](https://time.com/author/matthew-miller/) ## Matthew Miller Jan 13, 2017 6:01 PM UTC It was always going to be difficult for FBI Director [Jim Comey](http://time.com/4550453/hillary-clinton-james-comey-fbi-emails/) to oversee an investigation into ties between President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign and the Russian government. Thursday’s announcement that the Department of Justice’s Inspector General will investigate Comey’s conduct during last year’s presidential election makes it impossible. As director of the FBI, [Jim Comey](http://time.com/4604955/hillary-clinton-election-james-comey-vladimir-putin/) is a key intelligence advisor to the president, responsible for briefing him on threats to our country’s security from a number of fronts, including foreign espionage. The agency he leads is also responsible for investigating those plots, and producing evidence that can be used by Department of Justice prosecutors to bring criminal charges against anyone who commits espionage against the United States. Never before in the history of the FBI have those two jobs been in conflict. Today, thanks to evidence that Russia intervened in our election to help elect Donald Trump president — and as yet unproven allegations that Trump campaign advisors cooperated with that plot — they are. This tension was put on display last Friday, when Comey briefed President-elect Trump on claims by a former British intelligence agent that the Russian government engaged in an elaborate effort to secure compromising information about Trump and that members of Trump’s staff repeatedly communicated with the Russian government during the campaign. At least some of those allegations appear to have already been disproven, but according to the [_Wall Street Journal_](http://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-says-it-has-no-compromising-material-on-trump-calling-report-an-absolute-fabrication-1484125723), the FBI continues to investigate possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, as it has been for months. Comey is without a doubt a man of personal integrity, but over the past six months, he has shown repeatedly that his perception of his skill at managing high-profile political investigations vastly exceeds his actual ability. He improperly inserted himself into the 2016 campaign twice, [first in July](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/james-comeys-abuse-of-power/2016/07/06/7799d39e-4392-11e6-8856-f26de2537a9d%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.e5ce7a04b0be) when he violated Department of Justice rules to pass judgment on Hillary Clinton’s conduct, and then again [in October](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/james-comey-fails-to-follow-justice-department-rules-yet-again/2016/10/29/3a2fad58-9ddd-11e6-b3c9-f662adaa0048%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.6cc6c66db8b8) when he violated further Justice guidelines to comment on an ongoing case during the waning days of a campaign. At the same time as Comey was publicly maligning Clinton, he was refusing to answer questions from Congress about whether the FBI was investigating Trump (it was), all while sources within the bureau were repeatedly leaking damaging information about Clinton. Furthermore, Comey in October refused to sign an assessment by other members of the intelligence community finding that the Russian government had intervened in the election — a fact with obvious relevance to the electorate. These issues together had already cast doubt on the FBI’s ability conduct a fair investigation into Donald Trump under the current chain of command. The fact that Comey will now be leading the probe while under investigation himself make it completely untenable. Read: How Russia Wants to Undermine the U.S. Election The situation will only be made worse when Senator Jeff Sessions is confirmed as attorney general and given the duty of supervising Comey and any Justice investigations that are underway into Trump. Sessions did not just endorse Trump and campaign repeatedly for him, he also officially joined his campaign as chair of its national security advisory committee. It is simply impossible for the American people to have confidence that Sessions can conduct a fair investigation into a campaign of which he was a senior official. This matter requires an unquestionably independent investigation because the outstanding questions go to the heart of our democracy and to the legitimacy of the Trump presidency. They include: • Did Trump campaign officials – or intermediaries such as Roger Stone – have knowledge of the Russian government’s campaign to hack the email accounts of Democratic party officials and release the information through Wikileaks? • Did Trump campaign officials, including former chairman Paul Manafort – who once worked for a Putin-backed autocrat in Ukraine – change the party’s platform at the behest of the Russian government? • What are the extent of Trump’s business dealings in Russia, and is there any truth to the allegations the Russian government is sitting on information with which it plans to blackmail him? • Did Trump campaign officials such as incoming national security advisor Michael Flynn, a paid contributor to the Kremlin-financed RT television network, participate in the official Russian propaganda campaign to elect Trump that the intelligence community described in its public report? An investigation led by Jeff Sessions and Jim Comey will never be accepted by the American public as having fairly and adequately addressed these questions. Sessions has never been independent from Trump, and Comey has squandered much of his reputation for fairness. It is crucial that Sessions, or Attorney General Lynch in her waning days in office, appoint a special counsel with independent authority to determine whether criminal statutes were violated, and, if appropriate, bring charges. Furthermore, Congress should establish a bipartisan commission with subpoena power, the ability to make criminal referrals, and a mandate to hold public hearings and issue a public report. While an investigation by a special counsel is crucial, criminal investigations are not by themselves sufficient for a question that also raises fundamental Constitutional questions. The American people deserve the sort of full public accounting of what happened during the campaign and whether it presents an ongoing risk to our democracy that only a bipartisan commission can deliver. President-elect Trump has to date resisted any further inquiry, and he seems to fear that this issue casts doubt on the legitimacy of his presidency. But it is precisely because of those doubts that we need a full and fair investigation. Either the Trump campaign acted in coordination with a hostile foreign power to influence the election or it didn’t. If it did, the American public deserves to know the full truth. If it didn’t, Trump deserves to have these questions put to rest. Until they are, he will never obtain the legitimacy he so obviously craves. [_Matthew Miller_](http://vianovo.com/people/matthew-miller) _is a partner at Vianovo, a communications and public affairs firm. He was the director of the Justice Department’s public affairs office from 2009 to 2011._ ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] With my home state. Alright everybody, now settle down. [ NOISE ] Everybody settle down please. [ NOISE ] [ MUSIC ] [ FOREIGN ] Russia and the hacking. By the way, if they hack, they probably have her 33, 000 emails. I hope they do. I mean, it could be Russia but it could also be China Could also be lots of other people. It also could be somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds. [ MUSIC ] I will confirm that this happened at the highest levels of the Russian Government. What do you think generally about I think we ought to get on with our lives. I think that computers have complicated lives very greatly. [ MUSIC ] Our source is not the Russian government and it is not a state plot. [ MUSIC ] Certainly, the intelligence community can't gauge the impact it had on the choices the electorate made, there's no way for us to gauge that There's still much we do not know, but Russia's involvement in these intrusions does not appear to be any doubt. 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