On Thursday, former F.B.I. director James Comey testified to the Senate Intelligence Committee that Donald Trump said he hoped Comey could drop the investigation of Michael Flynn. Trump himself has offered to testify against these accusations, calling Comey a liar and a “leaker.” At issue here is whether there is enough evidence to mount an obstruction of justice case against the president. From where former U.S. attorney Preet Bharara sits: the answer is “absolutely.”

During an appearance on This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Bharara said he believes “there is absolutely evidence to begin a case.”

“I think it’s very important for all sorts of armchair speculators in the law to be clear that no one knows right now whether there is a provable case for obstruction,” Bharara said. “It’s also true, I think, from based on what I see as a third party and out of government that there’s no basis to say there’s no obstruction.”

“This point on whether or not the president has legal authority to fire or direct an investigation, I don’t really get it, it’s a little silly to me,” he continued. “The fact that you have authority to remove someone from office doesn’t automatically immunize that act from criminal responsibility.” Bharara cited a hypothetical example, wherein Mike Flynn offered Trump $1 million to fire Comey. If Trump took the money and fired Comey, that would be a “open and shut federal corruption case,” Bharara said, regardless of whether Trump is authorized to fire the F.B.I. director in the general sense.

As far as certain “armchair speculators” go, it’s likely Bharara is referring to people like Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz, who has argued that there is “no plausible case” to be found here. The two have gone head-to-head on this issue before:

Bharara, a former counselor to Senator Chuck Schumer, was appointed by President Barack Obama. He met with Trump during the transition period, and says Trump asked him to stay on during that Trump Tower meeting. Bharara was then summarily fired alongside 45 other holdover U.S. attorneys, a dramatic incident that further upped his public profile among Trump critics and legal observers alike.

__Correction (1:01 P.M.): An earlier version of this article stated that Comey testified on Friday to the Supreme Court, when in actuality he testified on Thursday to the Senate.