I might be the only person in the world who feels bad for fired FBI Director James Comey.
It’s not exactly Comey’s fault his tenure covered such a tumultuous time in politics. He left a lucrative job in 2013 to serve his country as FBI director. He had no idea he’d have to deal with the Hillary Clinton email investigation or the investigation into possible connections between Russia and President Trump’s campaign. Whatever happened with either investigation, half the country would hate him for it. That’s not what he signed up for.
Although they were the most visible things we saw Comey take responsibility for, they probably didn’t make up a large portion of his day-to-day management responsibilities at the FBI. Believe it or not, the bureau does more than just investigate politicians.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders reminded the press as much during Wednesday’s press briefing, saying, “The FBI is doing a whole lot more than the Russia investigation. That’s probably one of the smallest things going on their plate.” As you may recall, the FBI also covers terrorism, counterintelligence, cybercrime, civil rights, organized crime, white-collar crime and, yes, public corruption.
Was Comey any good at managing those tasks of the bureau? I don’t know. But I know making sure the FBI is functioning properly in all of those areas outweighs the importance of the Clinton and Trump investigations.
What’s more, Comey was fired in embarrassing fashion. He thought it was a prank when he found out.
As the Washington Examiner‘s Kelly Cohen wrote Tuesday, “When [Comey] saw the news report on TV, he allegedly laughed and said he thought it was a fairly funny prank. He was then ushered into an office by staff, who confirmed to him that he had been fired. He had not heard from the White House before seeing the television report.”
Brutal. If there is a worse way to get fired, I don’t want to know.
It seems like the normal way to do these things is to pull Comey into a meeting and ask for his resignation. That saves him from the indignity from being “fired” instead of being “asked to resign” — and, more importantly, the indignity of finding out from TV.
After finding out, news helicopters stalked Comey’s motorcade as it drove to the airport. He promptly got stuck in rush-hour traffic.
Then Trump went ahead and said in front of the White House press pool and Henry Kissinger that Comey was doing “a bad job.”
Comey, unsurprisingly, has handled the whole incident with great equanimity.
He wrote in a goodbye letter to the FBI released Wednesday evening: “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.”
None of this affects the search for Comey’s replacement or the ongoing Russia investigation. But when history considers Comey’s legacy, it should at least cut the guy some slack.
Jason Russell is the contributors editor for the Washington Examiner.
