Eric Holder defended former FBI Director James Comey's draft exoneration letter for Hillary Clinton in an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper on Wednesday. Holder commented, "you can make determinations about where an investigation is likely to go before you actually speak to the subject of that investigation."





JAKE TAPPER, CNN: You worked with James Comey when he was the FBI Director and you were the Attorney General. There is a newly released document suggesting he had been working on his statement in May of 2016 before he ultimately cleared Hillary Clinton of any criminal wrongdoing later that summer.



I know you've been critical of Comey for being as outspoken as he was during that press conference and also the Comey Letter he wrote right before the election. President Trump tweeted that the memo that's been released, this newly released document suggests that Comey wanted to clear Hillary Clinton, "long before the investigation was complete." What's your take on all of this?







ERIC HOLDER, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: Well, I've been critical of Jim Comey, but I've also known Jim Comey for 20, 30 years. He's an honest guy, and the determination that he made and I think inappropriately announced, I think is based on the facts, based on his interpretation of the law and it was nothing more than that. It was a good-faith assessment by a person who I think has done a lot for this country.



TAPPER: What do you make of him working on this memo in May before he had even interviewed Hillary Clinton? Some of the president's supporters and President Trump himself are suggesting, see, the fix was in, he was never going to go after her criminally?



HOLDER: Well, you know, assuming the facts are as you say, you can make determinations about where an investigation is likely to go before you actually speak to the subject of that investigation. That inquiry had been underway for an extended period of time. A lot of resources had been used. A lot of people had been spoken to. A lot of documents had been reviewed. So you can get to, you know, pretty close to the end of an investigation and understand where you're going to go with it before you actually talk to the subject of the investigation. And my guess is that's probably where Jim Comey was.