Comey on Trump: 'My concern is with his moral fitness'

(RNN) – Former FBI director James Comey clarified what “collusion” means in a legal sense and said there is no “deep state” during a town hall on CNN on Wednesday night.

Comey, on stage with Anderson Cooper at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA, took questions from students at the school, where he will begin teaching in the fall.

Comey has spoken publicly on many occasions in the past weeks promoting his new book, “A Higher Loyalty,” touching on themes such as President Donald Trump’s fitness for office, which he also did Wednesday.

But perhaps one of the newer and more illuminating ideas he raised relates to the concept of collusion, and special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of ties between Trump and his various associates and the Russian government.

 “Collusion is not a thing that exists under federal law,” Comey, who was FBI director from 2013-17, explained.

While the term may be popularly used, Comey said the actual criminal question Mueller would be considering would be if any Americans under investigation conspired with a foreign government, or aided and abetted Russia’s efforts to undermine the 2016 election.

“I’d never heard the term until it appeared in the media,” he said of collusion.

Trump has asserted his campaign did not collude with the Russian government in any way. “No collusion” is a frequent refrain of his.

Comey also addressed the concept of a “deep state” – a term used by Trump and his allies to allege that many career government employees in civil service and law enforcement are aligned with establishment interests and against him.

Comey refuted the idea of such an organized effort, saying instead there was more of a “deep culture” which reflects the shared philosophy of many in government service.

“I’m talking about a culture of commitment to the rule of law and to the values enshrined in our Constitution,” he said. “It is the ballast that gives me comfort, and I hope should give all Americans comfort, but that can be damaged in significant ways.”

Comey said this culture “runs deep” in agencies such as the FBI, Justice Department, intelligence community and military branches.

“No one I hope voted for him hoping he would destroy those values,” he said of Trump and whether he was elected to enact such radical change.

He called the idea of a concerted deep state effort “nonsense.”

He also said he didn’t believe that Trump was “morally fit” to be president, a line he has repeated a number of times while appearing in the media. And he recounted an event early in his life when a rapist broke into his house and held him and his brother captive, and how it shaped him going forward.

A number of other topics, ranging from his time in President George W. Bush’s Justice Department, to the release of his memos and leaking, to how he addressed Hillary Clinton's emails, were also discussed.

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