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James Comey
7th Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
In office
September 4, 2013 – May 9, 2017
PresidentBarack Obama
Donald Trump
DeputySean Joyce
Mark Giuliano
Andrew McCabe
Preceded byRobert Mueller
Succeeded byAndrew McCabe (Acting)
United States Deputy Attorney General
In office
December 9, 2003 – August 15, 2005
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Preceded byLarry Thompson
Succeeded byRobert McCallum Jr. (Acting)
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York
In office
January 7, 2002 – December 15, 2003
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Preceded byMary Jo White
Succeeded byDavid N. Kelley
Personal details
Born
James Brien Comey Jr.

(1960-12-14) December 14, 1960 (age 63)
Yonkers, New York, U.S.
Political partyRepublican (before 2016)
Independent (2016–present)[1]
SpousePatrice Failor
Children5
EducationCollege of William and Mary (BA)
University of Chicago (JD)
Signature

James Brien "Jim" Comey Jr. (born December 14, 1960) is an American lawyer who served as the seventh Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from September 2013 until May 2017.[2] Comey has been a registered Republican for most of his life, but is now independent.

Comey was the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York from January 2002 to December 2003, and subsequently the United States Deputy Attorney General from December 2003 to August 2005. Comey appointed Patrick Fitzgerald to be the Special Counsel to head the grand jury investigation into the Plame affair, after Attorney General John Ashcroft recused himself.

In August 2005, Comey left the DOJ and became general counsel and senior vice president of Lockheed Martin, based in Bethesda, Maryland. In 2010, he became general counsel at Bridgewater Associates, based in Westport, Connecticut. In early 2013, he left Bridgewater to become a Senior Research Scholar and Hertog Fellow on National Security Law at Columbia Law School. He served on the Board of Directors of HSBC Holdings until July 2013.[3]

In September 2013, Comey was appointed Director of the FBI by President Barack Obama.[4] In that capacity, he was responsible for overseeing the FBI's investigation of the Hillary Clinton email controversy. His role in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, particularly with regard to his public communications, was highly controversial.[5] His decisions have been regarded by many analysts, including Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight, to have likely cost Clinton the election.[6][7][8]

Comey was dismissed by President Donald Trump on May 9, 2017, reportedly days after Comey requested increased resources from the U.S. Department of Justice for the FBI's investigation into Russia’s interference in the presidential election, a report which was later denied by the Justice Department.[9][10][11][12] A statement released by the White House said that removing Comey will help bring the Russia investigation to a conclusion.[13] Later that day, Trump stated that he was thinking of "this Russia thing with Trump and Russia" when he decided to dismiss Comey.[14]

According to a personal memo written by James Comey, Donald Trump asked him to personally end the investigation into General Michael T. Flynn. The memo also stated that Trump asked for the jailing of journalists for publishing leaks of classified information. [15][16]

Early life

Comey was born in Yonkers, New York, where his parents, Joan (Herald) and J. Brien Comey, lived. His grandfather, William J. Comey, was an officer and later commissioner of the Yonkers Police Department.[17] The family moved to Allendale, New Jersey, in the early 1970s.[18][19] His father worked in corporate real estate and his mother was a computer consultant and homemaker.[20] Comey is of Irish heritage.[21] He attended Northern Highlands Regional High School in Allendale.[22] Comey graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1982, majoring in chemistry and religion. His senior thesis analyzed the liberal theologian Reinhold Niebuhr and the conservative televangelist Jerry Falwell, emphasizing their common belief in public action.[23] He received his Juris Doctor (J.D.) from the University of Chicago Law School in 1985.[24]

Early career (1985–1993)

After law school, Comey served as a law clerk for then-United States District Judge John M. Walker, Jr., in Manhattan. Then, he was an associate for Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in their New York office. He joined the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, where he worked from 1987 to 1993. While there, he served as Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division. He helped prosecute the Gambino crime family.[25]

Clinton years (1996–2001)

Assistant U.S. Attorney

From 1996 to 2001, Comey served as Managing Assistant U.S. Attorney in charge of the Richmond Division of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. In 1996, Comey acted as deputy special counsel to the Senate Whitewater Committee.[26] He also served as the lead prosecutor in the case concerning the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia.[27] While in Richmond, Comey served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Richmond School of Law.[24]

Bush years (2002–2005)

U.S. Attorney

He was the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, from January 2002 to the time of his confirmation as Deputy Attorney General on December 11, 2003.[24] Among his first tasks was to take over the investigation into President Bill Clinton's controversial pardon of Marc Rich.[26] In November 2002, he led the prosecution of three men involved in one of the largest identity fraud cases in American history. The fraud had lasted two years and resulted in thousands of people across the country collectively losing well over $3 million.[28] He also led the indictment of Adelphia Communications founder John Rigas for bank fraud, wire fraud, and securities fraud. Rigas was convicted of the charges in 2004 and in 2005, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison. Adelphia Corporation was forced to file for bankruptcy, after it acknowledged it took $3.3 billion in false loans. It was "one of the most elaborate and extensive corporate frauds in United States history".[29]

In February 2003, Comey led the prosecution of Martha Stewart, who was indicted on the charges of securities fraud, obstruction of justice, and lying to an FBI agent. She sold 3,928 shares of ImClone Systems, making $227,824. The next day, the Food and Drug Administration refused to accept the company's application for Erbitux.[30] In March 2003, he led the indictment of ImClone CEO Samuel Waksal, who pleaded guilty to avoiding paying $1.2 million in sales taxes on $15 million worth of contemporary paintings. The works were by Mark Rothko, Richard Serra, Roy Lichtenstein, and Willem de Kooning.[31] In April 2003, he led the indictment of Frank Quattrone, who allegedly urged subordinates in 2000 to destroy evidence sought by investigators looking into his investment banking practices at Credit Suisse First Boston.[32] In November 2003, he led the prosecutions in "Operation Wooden Nickel", which resulted in complaints and indictments against 47 people involved in foreign exchange trading scams.[33]

Deputy Attorney General

NSA domestic wiretapping

In early January 2006, The New York Times, as part of its investigation into domestic surveillance by the National Security Agency, reported that Comey, who was Acting Attorney General during the March 2004 hospitalization of John Ashcroft, refused to certify the legality of central aspects of the NSA program.[34] The certification was required under White House procedures in order for the program to continue.[35]

After Comey's refusal, the newspaper reported, Andrew H. Card Jr., White House Chief of Staff, and Alberto R. Gonzales, then White House counsel and future Attorney General, made a visit to the George Washington University Hospital, to attempt to win approval directly from Ashcroft for the program.[35] According to the 2007 memoir of Jack Goldsmith, who had been head of the Office of Legal Counsel at the time, Comey went to the hospital to give Ashcroft support in withstanding pressure from the White House.[36]

Comey confirmed these events took place (but declined to confirm the specific program) in testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 16, 2007.[37][38][39][40][41][42] FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III, like Comey, also supported Ashcroft's decision; both men were prepared to resign if the White House ignored the Department of Justice's legal conclusions on the wiretapping issue. FBI director Mueller's notes on the March 10, 2004, incident, which were released to a House Judiciary committee, confirms that he "Saw [the] AG, John Ashcroft in the room. AG is feeble, barely articulate, clearly stressed."[43] Comey withdrew his threat to resign after meeting directly with President Bush, who gave his support to making changes in the surveillance program.[44]

Enhanced interrogation techniques

In 2005, as Deputy Attorney General, Comey endorsed a memorandum approving the use of 13 enhanced interrogation techniques, including waterboarding[34] and sleep deprivation for up to 180 hours, for use by the CIA when interrogating suspects.[45][46] Comey objected to a second memorandum, drafted by Daniel Levin and signed by Steven G. Bradbury, that these techniques could be used in combination.[45] Comey was one of the few members of the Bush administration who had tried to prevent or limit the use of torture.[47][48][49]

Comey later stated during his 2013 confirmation hearing that even though his personal opinion was that waterboarding is torture,[50] the United Nations Convention against Torture was "very vague" and difficult to interpret as banning the practice.[36] Even though he considered the practice to be legal at the time,[45] he strongly disagreed with the techniques and opposed implementing them on policy grounds,[46][51] objections that were ultimately overruled by the National Security Council.[52]

Private sector 2005–2013

In April 2005, Comey announced that he was leaving the Department of Justice in the fall. In August 2005, it was announced that Comey would enter the private sector, becoming the General Counsel and Senior Vice President for Lockheed Martin, the U.S. Department of Defense's largest contractor.[53] Comey's tenure took effect on October 1, 2005,[54] serving in that capacity until June 2, 2010, when he announced he would leave Lockheed Martin to join the senior management committee at Bridgewater Associates, a Connecticut based investment management firm.[55] On February 1, 2013, after leaving Bridgewater, he was appointed by Columbia University Law School as a Senior Research Scholar and Hertog Fellow on National Security Law.[56] He was also appointed to the board of directors of the London-based financial institution HSBC Holdings,[57] to improve the company's compliance program after its $1.9 billion settlement with the Justice Department for failing to comply with basic due diligence requirements for money laundering regarding Mexican drug cartels and terrorism financing.[58][59] Since 2012, he has also served on the Defense Legal Policy Board.[60]

Testimony before congressional committees

Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy

In May 2007, Comey testified before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary and the House Judiciary subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law on the U.S. Attorney dismissal scandal. His testimony contradicted that of former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who had said the firings had been due to poor performance on the part of some of the dismissed prosecutors. Comey stressed that the Justice Department had to be perceived as nonpartisan and nonpolitical to function.[61]

The Department of Justice, in my view, is run by political appointees of the President. The U.S. attorneys are political appointees of the President. But once they take those jobs and run this institution, it's very important in my view for that institution to be another in American life, that—because my people had to stand up before juries of all stripes, talk to sheriffs of all stripes, judges of all stripes. They had to be seen as the good guys, and not as either this administration or that administration.[61]

Supreme Court considerations

Politico reported in May 2009 that White House officials pushed for Comey's inclusion on the short list of names to replace Associate Justice David Souter on the U.S. Supreme Court.[62] Politico later reported liberal activists were upset about the possibility of Comey's name being included. John Brittain of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law stated, "[Comey] came in with the Bushies. What makes you think he'd be just an inch or two more to the center than [John] Roberts? I'd be greatly disappointed."[63]

In 2013, Comey was a signatory to an amicus curiae brief submitted to the Supreme Court in support of same-sex marriage during the Hollingsworth v. Perry case.[64]

FBI Director

Comey (left), alongside President Obama (center) and outgoing FBI Director Robert Mueller (right) at Comey's nomination to become FBI Director, June 21, 2013
Comey at the Oval Office following the San Bernardino shooting, December 3, 2015
Obama receives an update from Comey and Homeland Security Advisor Lisa Monaco on the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting, June 12, 2016

In May 2013, it was reported,[65][66] and in June 2013 it was made official, that President Barack Obama would nominate Comey to be the next Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, replacing outgoing director Robert Mueller.[67] Comey was reportedly chosen over finalist Lisa Monaco, who had overseen national security issues at the Justice Department during the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11, 2012.[68][69]

Comey was confirmed by the Senate on July 29, 2013, for a full ten-year term running the Federal Bureau of Investigation.[70] He was sworn in as FBI director on September 4, 2013.[71] President Donald Trump dismissed him on May 9, 2017.[9]

Police and African Americans

Comey at annual FBI and Birmingham Civil Rights Institute conference, May 25, 2016

In February 2015, Comey delivered a speech at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., regarding the relationship between police and the African American community.[72][73]

Comey said. "At many points in American history, law enforcement enforced the status quo — a status quo that was often brutally unfair to disfavored groups," including his own Irish ancestors. Law enforcement often treated the Irish unfairly and often regarded them as drunks and criminals in the early 20th century, he said. "The Irish had some tough times, but little compares to the experience on our soil of black Americans."[72] Deep-rooted societal problems often lead young black men to crime and create tensions with law enforcement, he said.[72]

"Police officers on patrol in our nation’s cities often work in environments where a hugely disproportionate percentage of street crime is committed by young men of color," Comey said. "Something happens to people of good will working in that environment. After years of police work, officers often can’t help be influenced by the cynicism they feel. A mental shortcut becomes almost irresistible."[72]

In October 2015, Comey gave a speech raising concerns that body worn video results in less effective policing, contradicting the President’s public position.[74] Days later, President Obama met with Comey in the Oval Office to address the issue.[75]

In an October 23 speech at the University of Chicago Law School Comey said: "I remember being asked why we were doing so much prosecuting in black neighborhoods and locking up so many black men. After all, Richmond was surrounded by areas with largely white populations. Surely there were drug dealers in the suburbs. My answer was simple: We are there in those neighborhoods because that’s where people are dying. These are the guys we lock up because they are the predators choking off the life of a community. We did this work because we believed that all lives matter, especially the most vulnerable."[76]

Comments on Poland and the Holocaust

In April 2015, Comey spoke at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, arguing in favor of more Holocaust education.[77] After The Washington Post printed a version of his speech, Anne Applebaum wrote that his reference to "the murderers and accomplices of Germany, and Poland, and Hungary" was inaccurately saying that Poles were as responsible for the Holocaust as Germans.[78] His speech was also criticized by Polish authorities, and Stephen D. Mull, United States Ambassador to Poland, was called to the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[79] Applebaum wrote that Comey, "in a speech that was reprinted in The Post arguing for more Holocaust education, demonstrated just how badly he needs it himself".[80]

Ambassador Mull issued an apology for Comey's remarks.[81] When asked about his remarks, Comey said, "I regret linking Germany and Poland ... The Polish state bears no responsibility for the horrors imposed by the Nazis. I wish I had not used any other country names because my point was a universal one about human nature."[82]

OPM hack

In June 2015, the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced that it had been the target of a data breach targeting the records of as many as four million people.[83] Later, Comey put the number at 18 million.[84] The Washington Post has reported that the attack originated in China, citing unnamed government officials.[85] Comey said: "It is a very big deal from a national security perspective and from a counterintelligence perspective. It’s a treasure trove of information about everybody who has worked for, tried to work for, or works for the United States government."[86]

Hillary Clinton email investigation

Main article: Hillary Clinton email controversy

On July 10, 2015, the FBI opened a criminal investigation into Hillary Clinton.[5] In April 2015, Comey had objected when former General David Petraeus was allowed to plead guilty to only a misdemeanor of mishandling classified information.[5]

Attorney General Loretta Lynch instructed Comey to refer to the FBI’s activities as a "matter" rather than an investigation, which concerned Comey.[5] Comey was further concerned when the FBI intercepted on Russian networks a stolen internal Democratic Party memo anticipating Lynch would protect Clinton from prosecution, leading Comey to fear the Russians might leak the memo.[5] On June 29, Lynch and Bill Clinton met aboard her plane on the tarmac of the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, leading to calls for her recusal.[5] Lynch then announced that she would "fully" accept the recommendation of the FBI regarding the probe. On July 2, FBI agents interviewed Mrs. Clinton at FBI headquarters.[5]

On July 5, 2016, Comey announced the FBI’s recommendation that the United States Department of Justice file no criminal charges relating to the Hillary Clinton email controversy.[87] During a 15-minute press conference in the J. Edgar Hoover Building, Comey called Secretary Clinton's and her top aides' behavior "extremely careless", but concluded that "no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case".[87] It was believed to be the first time the FBI disclosed its prosecutorial recommendation to the Department of Justice publicly.[87] On July 7, 2016, Comey was questioned by a Republican-led House committee during a hearing regarding the FBI's recommendation.[88][89]

On May 2, 2017, President Donald Trump tweeted: “FBI Director Comey was the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton in that he gave her a free pass for many bad deeds!”[90]

Letters to Congress

In light of this Congressional hearing, Comey proceeded down a path of transparency that turned out to have far-reaching ramifications for the presidential election which was underway.[91]

In late October, Rudy Giuliani, a Donald Trump surrogate and advisor, told Martha MacCallum of Fox News that "a surprise or two that you’re going to hear about in the next two days" was coming from the Trump campaign.[92] Giuliani later said that he did not have insider FBI information.[93] Later confirmed by a second law enforcement source, an unnamed government source told Fox News that the email metadata on the computer in question contained “positive hits for state.gov and HRC emails”;[94] however, at the time Comey sent his letter to Congress, the FBI had still not obtained a warrant to review any of the e-mails in question and was not aware of the content of any of the e-mails in question.[95]

Late on October 26, Comey learned that FBI agents investigating sexting between Anthony Weiner and a 15-year old girl had discovered emails on his computer between his wife, Huma Abedin, and Clinton.[5] Fearful of the damage years of congressional investigation into the FBI would do once Clinton was elected president, and believing it would take months to review Weiner's emails, Comey decided to inform Congress.[5] Comey first informed Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, who urged him to delay until reviewing all the emails.[5] On October 28, Comey sent a letter to members of Congress advising them that the FBI was reviewing more emails, which Congressmen leaked to the public within minutes.[96]

Trump immediately praised Comey, telling a campaign rally "I have great respect for the fact that the FBI and the DOJ are now willing to have the courage to right the horrible mistake they made", prompting the crowd to chant "lock her up".[96] Comey's announcement was inconsistent with Justice Department policy and he was warned by lawyers at the Department of Justice against proceeding with his letter to Congress. According to FBI officials, Comey was aware of the policy, but considered it "guidance", rather than an ironclad rule. Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers, as well as both the Clinton and Trump campaigns called on Comey to provide additional details.[97] The fear that information about the newly discovered e-mails would be leaked to the press influenced, in part, Comey's decision to inform Congress about the relevance of the new emails to the Clinton investigation,[98] and he said that not doing so "would be misleading to the American people" despite not knowing the emails' contents and despite the risk of being misunderstood.[99]

The Clinton campaign quickly released a letter signed by dozens of former Justice Department officials and federal prosecutors that criticized Comey.[100] Circuit Judge Laurence Silberman,[101] former Attorney General Eric Holder,[102] and former Deputy Attorneys General Jamie Gorelick and Larry Thompson,[103] published op-eds criticizing Comey, while former Attorneys General Michael Mukasey[104] and Alberto Gonzales criticized Comey on cable television.[105] Richard Painter, a chief White House ethics lawyer for the George W. Bush administration, published an op-ed announcing that he had filed a complaint against the FBI with the United States Office of Special Counsel, which investigates possible violations of the Hatch Act, and with the United States Office of Government Ethics, in connection with the letter sent to Congress.[106]

Lynch then provided the investigators the resources they needed to complete their review before Election Day.[5] On November 6, 2016, Comey wrote in a second letter to Congress that, "Based on our review, we have not changed our conclusions that we expressed in July".[107] He thanked the FBI investigators who worked "around the clock" on the emails.[108] Comey, for the first time in a national election, did not vote.[5]

Senator Al Franken of the Senate Judiciary Committee held a press conference to demand congressional hearings into Comey's actions.[109] Comey was broadly criticized for his actions, on editorial pages from both the right and the left,[110] as well as in an open letter signed by a bipartisan group of 99 former senior Justice Department officials and federal prosecutors, including former Attorney General Eric Holder.[111] According to the Clinton campaign, the letters effectively stopped the campaign's momentum by hurting Clinton's chances with voters who were receptive to Trump's claims of a "rigged system".[112] Statistician Nate Silver said that Comey had a "large, measurable impact on the race"[113] and that Clinton's marked drop in the polls after Comey's first letter was consistent with a burst of negative news coverage as opposed to a gradual decline.[114] On the eve of the election, Silver announced that Clinton had made back modest gains and announced a 70 percent chance of Clinton winning the election on FiveThirtyEight.com.[115] Voters who made up their minds in the final week of the race broke strongly against Clinton, which Silver said was enough to cost her Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania (and thus the election).[113] Others, such as Democratic strategist David Axelrod said, that Comey's public actions were just one of several cumulative factors that cost Clinton the election, including not campaigning in Wisconsin and Michigan and not allocating enough campaign resources in those states.[116][117]

On January 12, 2017, the United States Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General announced a formal investigation into whether the FBI followed proper procedures in its investigation of Clinton or whether "improper considerations" were made by FBI personnel.[118]

On May 2, 2017, Clinton told CNN's Christiane Amanpour: "I was on the way to winning until a combination of Jim Comey's letter on October 28 and Russian WikiLeaks raised doubts in the minds of people who were inclined to vote for me and got scared off."[90]

On May 3, 2017, Comey testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that "It makes me mildly nauseous to think that we might have had some impact on the election", but that "honestly, it wouldn't change the decision."[119][120]

Russian election interference investigation

See also: Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections

The same day as Comey's July press conference, the FBI acquired the Donald Trump-Russia dossier by Christopher Steele.[5] The FBI opened an investigation into the Trump campaign in late July.[5] Comey asked President Obama permission to write an op-ed warning the public that the Russians were interfering in the election, which the President refused.[5] CIA Director John O. Brennan then gave an unusual private briefing to Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid on the Russians, which Reid then publicly referred to.[5] Comey, however, refused to confirm the Trump Campaign was under investigation, even in classified Congressional briefings.[5] In early October, meetings were held in the White House Situation Room where National Security Advisor Susan Rice argued that they should release the information, while Comey now argued disclosure was no longer needed.[5]

In January 2017, Comey first met Trump when he briefed the President-elect on the Steele dossier.[121] On January 27, 2017, Trump and Comey had dinner alone together at the White House.[121] According to Trump, Comey requested the dinner so as to ask to keep his job and, when asked, told Trump that he was not under investigation, also adding that he did not ask Comey to pledge his loyalty.[121] According to Comey’s associates, Trump requested the dinner, asked Comey to pledge his loyalty, twice, to which Comey replied, twice, that he would always be honest, until Trump asked him if he would promise “honest loyalty”, which Comey did.[121]

On March 4, 2017, Comey asked the Justice Department for permission, which was not given, to publicly refute Trump's claim that his phones had been wiretapped by then-President Obama.[122]

On March 20, 2017, in testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, Comey confirmed that the FBI has been investigating possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia, and whether any crimes were committed.[123] During the hearing, the White House Twitter account posted "The NSA and FBI tell Congress that Russia did not influence the electoral process", which Comey, when then read the tweet by Congressman Jim Himes, directly refuted.[124] Comey also refuted the President's Trump Tower wiretapping allegations, testifying "I have no information that supports those tweets, and we have looked carefully inside the FBI".[125]

Representative Chris Stewart asked Comey in the hearing: “Mr. Clapper then went on to say that to his knowledge there was no evidence of collusion between members of the Trump campaign and the Russians. We did not conclude any evidence in our report and when I say "our report," that is the NSA, FBI, and CIA with my office, the director of national intelligence said anything -- any reflection of collusion between the members of Trump campaign and the Russians, there was no evidence of that in our report. Was Mr. Clapper wrong when he said that?” Comey responded: “I think he's right about characterizing the report which you all have read.”[126] Press Secretary Sean Spicer and a White House tweet then highlighted this testimony as proof that Clapper was "right" there was no evidence of collusion, causing Clapper to release a statement clarifying he had been referring to the evidence as gathered in January and that more investigation is needed.[124]

On May 3, 2017, in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Comey said that Russia is the "greatest threat of any nation on Earth ... One of the biggest lessons learned is that Russia will do this again. Because of 2016 election, they know it worked."[127] He also said that Russia should pay a price for interfering.[128]

In early May, a few days before he was fired, Comey asked the Justice Department for a significant increase in funding and personnel for the Russia probe.[10]

Comey had been scheduled to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on May 11, but after he was dismissed on May 9, committee chair Senator Richard Burr said that Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe would appear instead. Ranking committee member Senator Mark Warner said that Comey would be invited to testify on May 16 or “as soon as he can.”[129]

Dismissal

Main article: Dismissal of James Comey
Trump's letter firing Comey

On May 9, 2017, President Trump fired Comey. The White House initially said the firing was on the recommendation of United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.[130] Rosenstein had sent a memorandum to Sessions, forwarded to Trump, in which Rosenstein listed objections to Comey's conduct in the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails.[131] This allowed the Trump administration to attribute Comey's firing to Rosenstein's recommendation about the Clinton email controversy. It was later revealed that on May 8, Trump had requested Sessions and Rosenstein to detail in writing a case against Comey.[132][133] Rosenstein's memo was forwarded to Trump on May 9, and was then construed as a recommendation to dismiss Comey, which Trump immediately did. In Trump's termination letter to Comey he attributed the firing to the two letters from Sessions and Rosenstein.[134][135] On May 10, Trump told reporters he had fired Comey because Comey "wasn't doing a good job".[136]

By May 11, however, in a direct contradiction of the earlier statements by the White House, Vice President Mike Pence, and the contents of the dismissal letter itself, President Trump stated to Lester Holt in an NBC News interview that Comey's dismissal was in fact "my decision" and "I was going to fire [Comey] regardless of recommendation [by Jeff Sessions and Rod Rosenstein]."[137][138] Trump then sensationally admitted that the true reason behind the dismissal was that "when I decided to just do it [fire Comey], I said to myself, I said ‘You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story.'"[139] Also in that same televised interview, Trump labelled Comey "a showboat" and "grandstander".

According to reports, Trump had been openly talking to aides about firing Comey for at least a week before the dismissal or the requested memoranda from Session and Rosenstein the day prior. Trump had long questioned Comey’s loyalty to Trump personally and Comey's judgment. Moreover, Trump was angry that Comey would not support his claim that President Barack Obama had his campaign offices wiretapped and frustrated when Comey revealed in Senate testimony the breadth of the counterintelligence investigation into Russia’s effort to sway the 2016 U.S. presidential election. He felt Comey was giving too much attention to the Russia probe and not enough to internal leaks to the press from within the government.[140][141] Shortly before Comey was fired, he had requested money and resources to further expand the probe into Russian interference into the Presidential election.[10]

Comey's termination was immediately controversial. It was compared to the Saturday Night Massacre, President Richard Nixon's termination of special prosecutor Archibald Cox, who had been investigating the Watergate scandal,[142][143] and to the firing of Acting Attorney General Sally Yates in January 2017. Many members of Congress expressed concern over the firing and argued that it would put the integrity of the investigation into jeopardy.[144] Critics accused Trump of obstruction of justice.[145]

In the dismissal letter, Trump wrote that Comey had told Trump "on three separate occasions that I am not under investigation."[146] Fact checkers reported that while they have no way of knowing what Comey may have told Trump privately, no such assertion is on the public record of Comey directly stating that Trump is not personally under investigation.[147] Instead, as per Comey's sworn testimony to U.S. Congress days prior, the statements on the public record are those which confirm that various persons—without confirming or denying specific persons—involved in Trump's campaign are being investigated, and his refusal to exclude Trump from individual investigation if that is where the evidentiary trail leads to. Trump later specified the three occasions in which he alleges he asked Comey if he was personally under investigation: a private White House dinner, and two telephone calls. Associates of Comey offered a different version of what was said during the dinner.[148]

File:James Comey FBI Farewell Letter 5-10-17.pdf
James Comey's farewell letter sent to the FBI on May 10, 2017

Comey first learned of his termination from television news reports that flashed on screen while he was delivering a speech to agents at the Los Angeles Field Office.[149] Sources said he was surprised and caught off guard by the termination. Comey immediately departed for Washington, D.C., and was forced to cancel his scheduled speech that night at an FBI recruitment event at the Directors Guild of America in Hollywood, California.[150]

On May 10 Comey sent a letter to FBI staff in which he said, "I have long believed that a President can fire an FBI director for any reason, or for no reason at all. I'm not going to spend time on the decision or the way it was executed. I hope you won't either. It is done, and I will be fine, although I will miss you and the mission deeply."[151]

In the absence of a Senate-confirmed FBI director, Deputy Director Andrew G. McCabe automatically became Acting Director.[152] On May 11, McCabe testified before the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that "Director Comey enjoyed broad support within the FBI and still does" and that "the vast majority of FBI employees enjoyed a deep and positive connection to Director Comey". This contradicted White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who said she had heard from "countless" FBI agents in support of the firing.[153]

Government surveillance oversight

See also: Mass surveillance in the United States

In his July 2013 FBI confirmation hearing, Comey said that the oversight mechanisms of the U.S. government have sufficient privacy protections.[154] In a November 2014 New York Times Magazine article, Yale historian Beverly Gage reported that Comey keeps on his desk a copy of the FBI request to wiretap Martin Luther King, Jr., "as a reminder of the bureau's capacity to do wrong".[155] After Comey's letter to Congress in October 2016, CNN and the Irish Times pointed out the similarities between Comey and J. Edgar Hoover in "influencing" elections.[156][157]

He and his agency were criticized for their request to Apple Inc. to install a "back door" for U.S. surveillance agencies to use. Former NSA and CIA director Michael Hayden stated: "Jim would like a back door available to American law enforcement in all devices globally. And, frankly, I think on balance that actually harms American safety and security, even though it might make Jim's job a bit easier in some specific circumstances."[158]

Comey, speaking at a cybersecurity conference in 2017, told the audience, "There is no such thing as absolute privacy in America; there is no place outside of judicial reach."[159]

Party affiliation

Although Comey was a registered Republican for most of his life, he disclosed during Congressional testimony on July 7, 2016, that he was no longer registered with any party.[1] Comey donated to Senator John McCain’s campaign in the 2008 presidential election and to Governor Mitt Romney’s campaign in the 2012 presidential election.[160]

Personal life

Comey and his wife Patrice Failor are the parents of five children.[161] He is of Irish descent and was raised in a Roman Catholic household.[162][163] Comey subsequently joined the United Methodist Church, and has taught Sunday school.[161]

References

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Further reading

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Preceded by United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York
2002–2003 		Succeeded by
Preceded by United States Deputy Attorney General
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Preceded by Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
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