FBI Director James Comey said Monday that his time spent on social media makes him think of a “dive bar” filled with yelling and opinions, adding that it's also free speech that must be protected.
Comey told the Anti-Defamation League at a luncheon that he is “not a tweeter,” but uses the social media platform to read what is being said about the FBI.
“It feels like I’m all of a sudden immediately in every dive bar in America, where I can hear everybody screaming at the television set,” Comey said. “But it is free speech, you don’t have to like it, you don’t have to agree with it, but we will protect it.”
The FBI head came under fire by members on both sides of the political spectrum for his handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server. He told Congress the FBI would reopen its investigation into Clinton’s emails just days ahead of the election, only to clear the Democratic nominee a second time.
Clinton last week partially blamed the investigation on her surprise loss to Donald Trump.
Comey said at a speech in March he was on both Twitter and Instagram.
"I don't want anybody looking at my photos, but I treasure my privacy and security on the Internet,” Comey said.
