Former FBI Director James Comey called on Attorney General William Barr to place the reputation of the Justice Department above the wishes of President Trump.

"I have heard Barr say he doesn’t care about his legacy. Maybe not, but he should care about the reservoir," Comey wrote in an opinion piece published by the Washington Post on Tuesday. "The people of [the Justice Department] depend upon it. He should care enough about them — and the rest of us — to protect this vital American asset. The reputation of the Justice Department is more important than any of us, even an angry, vindictive president."

Barr has come under intense criticism since he intervened in the case of longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone, reversing course on a heavy sentencing recommendation.

Democrats have accused Barr of acting more like Trump's personal lawyer than as the country's top law enforcement official.

This, Comey argued, does a disservice to the men and women who answer to the attorney general.

"It is a hugely diverse collection of people who all depend on the same thing — an amazing gift they received on joining the department," Comey said. "It is a gift they might not have noticed until the first time they stood up and identified themselves as a Justice employee and said something — whether in a courtroom, a conference room or at a cookout — and found that total strangers believed what they said next."

Trump has routinely accused Comey and other FBI officials of harboring disdain for him and opening a counterintelligence investigation into his 2016 campaign out of political bias. He routinely derided that inquiry as a "witch hunt."

Trump fired Comey in May 2017, after which Comey compared the president to a "mob boss." Comey's conduct as FBI director has been criticized in multiple DOJ inspector general reports but, so far, has not been charged with any crimes.