Comey 'ashamed' of his role in bullying a classmate in college

"There was a boy that the group found irritating, and I participated in picking on him," Comey said during a CNN town hall at his alma mater, William & Mary. "Some things I did. Some things I watched. Some things I just laughed at. And I'm, 40 years later, ashamed of myself, and it taught me a lot about myself and about people in groups. I thought I was a good person. I thought I was somebody who cared a lot about bullying and picking on people."

Comey has criticized President Donald Trump for "bully-like behavior," and on Wednesday, the former FBI director said he too had been "picked on a lot as a kid."

Nevertheless, Comey said he bullied someone in college and that he learned things from the experience about his own shortcomings and what people are capable of in groups.

"That lesson has stayed with me and reminded me of my own weakness and of the weakness of all good people in groups," Comey said.

Comey said he did try later in college to reach out to the classmate.

"Before we graduated I tried to talk to him," Comey said. "And he claimed not to know, not to remember anything happening, and I don't know whether that was true or he was just trying to be polite."