Jeff Sessions blasts James Comey as ‘driven by ego’ & lacking ‘self-discipline & judgement’ in letter to Alabama
JEFF Sessions blasted James Comey on Tuesday, writing in a letter to Alabama voters that the former FBI director was "driven by ego" and "lacked self-discipline."
Sessions, the former US Attorney General, launched the personal attack as he defended his own decision to recuse himself from the Justice Department's Russia probe.
His recusal drew the ire of President Trump and he was later fired from the White House role.
The DOJ - and later special prosecutor Robert Mueller - would investigate Russia's interference in the 2016 election, won by Trump over Hillary Clinton.
The 73-year-old Sessions is now running for a Senate seat in Alabama, and he pleaded his case to voters on Tuesday.
"I have remained faithful to the President and his agenda," Sessions wrote in the opinion piece published by AL.com.
"I have always stood up for him, and I never backed down, not even for one moment.
"My convictions are immovable, built on rock, not sand."
He acknowledged that Trump disagreed with him on recusal, "but I did what the law required me to do."
"I was a central figure in the campaign and was also a subject of and witness in the investigation and could obviously not legally be involved in investigating myself," Sessions wrote.
"If I had ignored and broken the law, the Democrats would have used that to severely damage the President."
Sessions had harsh words for Comey, who was also fired by Trump.
"Comey was driven by ego, lacked self-discipline, and lacked the judgement necessary to lead an agency as critical as the FBI, as was evidenced by the completely improper way he declined to prosecute Hillary Clinton," he wrote.
Sessions said that he "advised from the beginning" that Comey should be removed from his position.
The former AG does not have the support of Trump for his Senate primary run-off against Tommy Tuberville.
In fact, Trump endorsed the former college football coach and has asked Sessions to stop attaching himself to the White House.
"I believe President Trump is a great president who is steadily making progress for America, despite relentless opposition," Sessions wrote Tuesday.
"My support for his agenda is not about me, or even about him.
"It’s about doing the right thing for the country I so love.
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"I have given my entire life to the support of our conservative ideals and to stopping the radical left from their attempts to redefine, and thereby destroy, America.
"I always have, I always will."
The winner of the July run-off election in Alabama will face Democrat Doug Jones in November.