FBI Director James Comey said he let cameras into the New York FBI offices to film a new television series in hopes that he might build trust with the American people.
“I worry sometimes that people don’t know us,” Comey said in explaining why he green-lighted “Inside the FBI: New York,” a new television documentary by Dick Wolf of “Law & Order” fame and documentarian Marc Levin.
“We have to care what people think of us,” Comey said at a showing of the new series at the Newseum in Washington, DC. “The faith and confidence of the American people is the bedrock,” he said.
“We did a lot last year that confused people,” Comey admitted, speaking of the presidential election.
But he insisted that the fault was not the FBI’s — it was the American people’s.
“Because they are seeing the world … they see the world through sides,” he said. “If you see the world through sides, the FBI doesn’t make a lot of sense to you.”
“We are not on anybody’s side. We really don’t care,” he said.
The film crew spent a year with the New York FBI’s offices, from September 2015 to September 2016, and filmed major events including the bombing in Chelsea, NY, and the FBI’s response to the Paris terrorist attacks in November 2015.
The FBI’s independence has came under scrutiny due to Comey’s decision last year to make public plans to reopen an investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails weeks before the presidential election.
More recently, Comey confirmed that the agency has been investigating contacts between members of President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia.
The series will premier April 27 on USA Network.