After US President Donald Trump launched a barrage of tweets insisting the Federal Bureau of Investigation risks being caught up in a “major spy scandal” over the agency’s use of an outside informant to investigate Trump’s campaign aides in 2016, former FBI Director James Comey attempted to defend the organization and its methods.
READ MORE: ‘Classic Intelligence Operation’: FBI Can’t Pretend It Didn’t Spy on Trump Team
Comey insisted that use of informants, whom he described as "Confidential Human Sources" is essential for the FBI in order to protect the United States.
He also claimed that the implementation of this method is "tightly regulated," and criticized Trump for allegedly lying about the agency’s work.
"How will Republicans explain this to their grandchildren?" Comey inquired.
Many social media users apparently weren’t convinced by Comey’s reasoning and even questioned the former FBI director’s integrity.
Some however voiced their approval of Comey’s stance, criticizing Trump and the Republicans instead.
The White House initially said Trump fired Comey upon the recommendation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein over Comey's handling of the Hillary Clinton private email server investigation.
But in an interview with NBC News on May 11, Trump said that when he decided to fire Comey, he was thinking of the Russia investigation and said he always planned to fire Comey "regardless" of any recommendation.