White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders took to Twitter to publicly criticize James Comey in the wake of his statements about President Trump.
“Republicans should stand up to Comey and his tremendous corruption – from the fake Hillary Clinton investigation, to lying and leaking, to FISA abuse, and a list too long to name,” Sanders wrote. “The President did the country a service by firing him and exposing him for the shameless fraud he is.”
It is the latest volley in an ongoing online feud between the President and ex-FBI director James Comey. On Sunday, Trump expressed his frustration with the ongoing “Russian Witch Hunt Hoax,” and called his former lawyer Michael Cohen a “rat.”
Comey fired back. “This is from the President of our country, lying about the lawful execution of a search warrant issued by a federal judge. Shame on Republicans who don’t speak up at this moment—for the FBI, the rule of law, and the truth,” he tweeted.
Reactions to Sanders’ latest message have been predictably divisive. “You’re a press secretary, not a commentator. Sit down,” one user tweeted. “Okay Goebbels, calm down,” said another. Others mocked Sanders’ recent statement that she wanted to be remembered as “transparent and honest.”
On Monday, Comey appeared before the House Judiciary and House Oversight Committees. After the six-hour session, he told reporters: “Republicans used to understand that the actions of a president matter. The words of a president matter, the rule of law matters, and the truth matters. Where are those Republicans today?”
“At some point, someone has to stand up and in the fear of Fox News and fear of their base, and fear of mean tweets, stand up for the values of this country and not slink away into retirement,” he said.