James Comey flatly stated during CNN’s Wednesday town hall in Williamsburg, Virginia that there is no “deep state.”

“I hear this term deep state all the time,” the former FBI director claimed. “There is no deep state, but there is a deep culture and a commitment to the rule of law, equal protection of the laws.”

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“The fundamental values that are at the core of our constitution that runs really deep in the FBI, the Justice Department as a whole, the intelligence community. The United States military services.”

“It is the ballast that gives me comfort and I hope should give all Americans comfort,” he continued. “But that can be damaged in any significant ways. I don’t think any president serves long enough to damage, to flip that ship over, but if we are silent, tremendous damage will be done that will take us time to recover.”

“You said there is no deep state but you talk about a deep culture and it doesn’t sound that much different,” noted host Anderson Cooper. “A deep culture which has ways of doing things and believes it is the right way of doing things isn’t that some of what President Trump was elected to shake up?”

“Absolutely not,” Comey responded. “No one, I hope, voted for him with the idea that he would destroy those values. So that is what I mean by a deep culture. It is a culture that we should celebrate, and the rest of us who are not part of it ought to make sure we call it out when we see it threatened or damaged.”

“When we say the deep state is trying to destroy president Trump,” Cooper pressed one more time. “You are saying point blank that is not true?”

“That’s nonsense,” Comey answered.

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