Former FBI Director James Comey is in the Twins Cities talking about ethics and the rule of law.
Comey spoke to several hundred people inside the Westminster Presbyterian Church in downtown Minneapolis as part of a special series called "Ethics Still Matter."
Comey spoke of truth, the rule of law, and the judicial system which he says has stood up under pressure.
"And I believe they have stood up and passed the test by working as designed," he says. "Our founders, because we believed that the holding of truth at the center of America, created systems to find truth through the collision of viewpoints, right? That's the nature of our judicial system. It's an adversarial system that's the nature of our federal government. It's a three branch self-interested collision that is designed to produce better results."
Before beginning his remarks, Comey had a message for the audience.
"I believe you have, through your sacrifice, through your pain, through your loss, for which I am so sorry," Comey added. "I believe you have changed a nation. I believe you have given a nation hope, focus, and purpose."
Comey led the FBI from 2013 to 2017, appointed by President Barack Obama. He was fired by U.S. President Donald Trump in 2017 and has faced criticism for the agency's handling of the investigation of the Hillary Clinton emails in 2017 for the FBI's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections as it related to alleged collusion with Trump's presidential campaign.
Comey was charged with lying to Congress in a criminal case filed days after President Donald Trump appeared to urge his attorney general to prosecute the former FBI director and other perceived political enemies.
Last November, a federal judge dismissed the criminal case the Department of Justice filed against Comey, concluding that the prosecutor who brought the charges at President Donald Trump’s urging was illegally appointed by the Justice Department.
The Department of Justice said they would appeal, but that has yet to happen and that case is now beyond a five-year statute of limitations.
Prior to FBI service, Comey was a federal prosecutor in New York and Virginia and served as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and U.S. deputy attorney general under President George W. Bush.