President Barack Obama says he picked James Comey to lead the FBI after interviewing many other candidates for the job.

The president said at an installation ceremony for the new FBI director Monday afternoon that it wasn’t Comey’s educational or professional background that made him the choice. He said it was a sense that Comey knows what’s right and what’s wrong.

Comey is a former Bush administration official who defiantly refused to go along with White House demands on warrantless wiretapping nearly a decade ago. Comey told more than 3,000 FBI employees and guests at the ceremony that the bureau “must be independent of all political forces and interests.”

Comey took over last month for Robert Mueller (MUHL’-ur), who stepped down after 12 years as agency director.

(AP)