decide to change course and flip?
Mr. Comey. I can only answer that in general not about the case in particular.
Mr. Raskin. In general.
Mr. Comey. Because they conclude that it's in their self-interest to try to obtain a reduction in their sentence by providing substantial assistance to the people of the United States by helping solve other crimes.
Mr. Raskin. Yes. At certain points, I think the President has meditated the possibility of making it a crime to flip or saying it should be against the law to flip. What do you make of that suggestion, as a prosecutor?
Mr. Comey. It's a shocking suggestion coming from any senior official, no less the President. It's a critical and legitimate part of the entire justice system in the United States.
Mr. Raskin. Does the government routinely grant defendants who cooperate with the government and render honest testimony reduced sentences in exchange for their cooperation?
Mr. Comey. Routinely, the prosecutors ask the judge to take that substantial assistance into account and reduce their sentences.
Mr. Raskin. Okay. So it's not directly up to the prosecutor --
Mr. Comey. Correct.
