JOHN CARLIN:

Well, I have had the privilege of working with some of the professionals, both at the FBI and the career prosecutors who are at the Department of Justice that handle this highly specialized type of investigation.

And one thing that assures me and that I can assure others, having worked with them, is these are people that they don't care about politics. They often are not even tracking what's going on in the political world.

But they're trained investigators who believe — swear an oath to protect our Constitution, recognize the threats that they're facing from abroad from people who fundamentally do not share our values, and work day in and day out to protect us from those threats.

They're going to follow the facts and evidence where they lead under the law, and then make a decision if there were criminal charges to bring, that's based on longstanding Justice precedent. Those are the prosecutors.

So, when — if the target of the investigation were to be the president, there are protocols — and I'm not saying that it is, but that there are protocols in place at the Department of Justice to ensure that, ultimately, the career prosecutors' decisions, the investigative steps of the career agents are respected, and the investigation is allowed to proceed.

And one thing I have absolutely no doubt is that Director Comey will do what he needs to do to preserve the integrity of those investigations, and that the career officials at the National Security Division and in U.S. attorney's offices will similarly not allow political interference with their investigation.