Welcome to Pushback. I'm Aaron Mate.

The Justice Department Inspector General has admonished former FBI director James Comey.

A new report criticizes Comey for drafting, retaining, and leaking memos about his private conversations with President Trump. Despite this conclusion,

prosecutors declined to prosecute Comey.

Joining me now is Stephen F. Cohen, Professor Emeritus of Russian Studies at Princeton

and NYU, author of many books, including his latest, War with Russia, from Putin and

Ukraine to Trump and Russia Gate.

Welcome Professor Cohen.

You said all along that the main story here when it comes to Trump and Russia is not any

dealings between Trump and Russia, but actually the conduct of the intelligence officials

like Comey, who launched and oversaw the Trump-Russia investigation. Your response to this report criticizing Comey today?

I don't think it's a surprise.

I had heard from a friend in law school.

I don't want a name a law school because they would point to the person,

but a friend of Comey was receiving memos from Comey to be leaked to the New York Times.

This now seems to be confirmed by the charges or allegations against Comey.

But what's of importance to everyone, I think, Aaron, at least to those of us who care about

the role of intelligence services and a democracy democracy is that evidence mounts that for a very

long time American intelligence agencies under President Obama and not only American because

they had allies among European intelligence agencies had, let's don't use the word plot, let's say

campaign, but a campaign to undo first the candidacy and then the presidency of Donald Trump.

Now, here we come to a kind of political decision that people who loathe Trump have to make.

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