Trump says Comey committed 'criminal acts' as FBI director and suggests he might 'get involved' in Justice Department affairs

President suggests someone should look into criminal charges for former FBI director

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at the White House (AP)

President Donald Trump has suggested James Comey committed “criminal acts” as FBI director, and said he may get personally involved at the Justice Department if things "get worse".

Mr Trump lashed out at his former FBI director and other top agency officials in a freewheeling interview with Fox & Friends following the release of a Justice Department inspector general report on the FBI’s conduct during the 2016 presidential election.

Mr Trump said the report proved there was “total bias” against him at the FBI, claiming top officials in the agency were “plotting against my election”. Asked if Mr Comey should be referred for prosecution, Mr Trump said he wouldn’t get involved, but added that the former director’s actions “seem like very criminal acts to me”.

“What he did was criminal. What he did was a terrible thing to the people,”Mr Trump told Fox News’ Steve Doocy. “What he did was so bad in terms of our constitution, in terms of the well being of our country.”

“Should he be locked up?” he added. “Let somebody make a determination.”

Mr Trump also praised himself for not interfering in the Justice Department while it conducts an investigation of his campaign’s possible ties to Russia, but said he may have to get involved in the future, “if it gets worse”.

The FBI launched its investigation of the Trump campaign in July of 2016, after agents found evidence suggesting Trump campaign aides had been in contact with Russia. The inspector general’s report details this investigation, as well as the investigation into Mr Trump’s campaign rival, Hillary Clinton, for her use of a private email server as secretary of state.

The report sharply criticises Mr Comey for his public press conference announcing the results of the Clinton investigation, and for his failure to coordinate with his superiors at the Justice Department. It also cites several instances in which FBI employees working both investigations expressed anti-Trump, pro-Clinton sentiments.

The report concludes, however, that the findings in the Clinton case were not motivated by political bias, but by “facts, the law and past department practice”.

Mr Trump slammed this conclusion on Friday, calling it “ridiculous”.

“The end result was wrong” he said. “...It was a pretty good report, and then I say the IG blew it at the very end with that statement.”

The president also claimed the report – which does not pass judgement on the allegations of collusion against his campaign – “totally exonerated” him. He repeated his claims that special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation was a “witch hunt,” and suggested the entire probe had been “totally discredited”.

"I did nothing wrong, there was no collusion, no obstruction,” he said. “The IG report yesterday went a long way to show that.”

Mr Comey also responded to the report, saying that the conclusions were “reasonable,” though he disagreed with some.

“People of good faith can see an unprecedented situation differently,” he tweeted. “I pray no Director faces it again.”

Mr Comey made the unusual step of publicly announcing the findings of the Clinton investigation at a press conference in July of 2016. At the press conference, he also suggested that Ms Clinton not be referred for prosecution – a move usually reserved for Justice Department attorneys.

Michael Horowitz, the Justice Department’s inspector general, slammed these decisions as "extraordinary and insubordinate" in his 500-page report.

Mr Horowitz also referred five FBI employees for possible discipline over pro-Clinton, anti-Trump messages they exchanged during the campaign. Among those referred were Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, whose text messages were published earlier this year, sparking outcry from Republicans. Ms Page later left the FBI, and Mr Strzok was reassigned.

While the inspector general concluded that the findings in the Clinton investigation were not politically motivated, he added that the agency’s conduct during the 2016 election did lasting damage to the FBI's reputation.

Christopher Wray, the FBI director who took over for Mr Comey after the president fired him last year, said the department took the report “very seriously” and accepted its findings and recommendations.

“The report does identify errors of judgment, violations of or even disregard for policy and decisions that at the very least with the benefit of hindsight were not the best choices,” he said in a statement.