Former FBI Director James Comey says he wrote his book to show people how President Trump is running the government in a way that “fails to reflect the values of an ethical leader.”
But Comey’s book, his media tour and the related Thursday release of memos detailing his meetings with Trump are quickly doing real damage to Comey himself.
Perhaps most importantly, Comey’s own memos reveal that he lied when he told Trump, “I don’t leak.”
He said that to Trump in January 2017, and then broke that pledge less than six months later by leaking one of his unclassified memos about a discussion he had with the president to his friend, Professor Daniel Richman at Columbia University. Richman then leaked parts of it to the press.
The book tour circus has also demonstrated that while Comey likes to downplay his own leaks, he spent time at the FBI getting others in trouble for talking to the press. Comey confirmed in an interview this week that he ordered up an investigation into former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe for giving information to reporters.
That created a rift between the former FBI officials. McCabe’s lawyers reacted by saying Comey knew McCabe was talking to the press. And while Comey is making money from his book and being interviewed by every major media outlet, the Justice Department’s inspector general referred McCabe’s case to a U.S. attorney for possible criminal charges.
The book that many hailed as an epic takedown of Trump seems to be doing a pretty good job of taking down the FBI.
What a mess. Well, he can always fall back into the loving arms of the media, right?
Not exactly. If anything, the press seems to growing more skeptical of Comey. Several say he’s petty, and not just right-leaning media.
CNN analyst David Gregory said Comey seems “obsessed with his standing” in the press, and Washington Post writer Aaron Blake said he seems “overly concerned with appearances, politics and ego.”
Comey said Thursday he’s hoping his book can spark a long-term conversation about “values.” It just might.
