James Comey

"Comey" redirects here. For other people with the surname, see Comey (surname).
Not to be confused with James Comer (disambiguation).

James Comey
Official portrait, c. 2010–2013
7th Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
In office
September 4, 2013 – May 9, 2017
PresidentBarack Obama
Donald Trump
DeputySean M. Joyce
Mark F. Giuliano
Andrew McCabe
Preceded byRobert Mueller
Succeeded byChristopher A. Wray
31st United States Deputy Attorney General
In office
December 9, 2003 – August 15, 2005
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Preceded byLarry Thompson
Succeeded byPaul McNulty
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 partyIndependent (2016–present)[1]
Other political
affiliations		Republican (before 2016)[2]
Spouse
Patrice Failor
​
(m. 1987)​
Children6
EducationCollege of William & Mary (BS)
University of Chicago (JD)
Signature
James Comey's voice
James Comey thanks law enforcement officers during National Police Week
Recorded May 11, 2015

James Brien Comey Jr. (/ˈkoʊmi/; born December 14, 1960) is an American lawyer who was the seventh director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from 2013 until his termination in May 2017.[3] Comey was a registered Republican for most of his adult life but in 2016 he stated he was unaffiliated.[4]

During the presidential administration of George W. Bush, Comey was the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York from January 2002 to December 2003 and later the United States deputy attorney general from December 2003 to August 2005. In August 2005, Comey left the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to become a senior vice president of Lockheed Martin as general counsel.[5] In 2010, he became general counsel at Bridgewater Associates. 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.[6]

In September 2013, Barack Obama appointed Comey to the position of Director of the FBI.[7] 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 was highly controversial.[8] Some analysts and some Clinton supporters claim his decisions shortly before the 2016 election might have cost her the presidency,[9] particularly his decision to reopen the investigation into her emails less than two weeks before the election.[10][11][12] On June 14, 2018, DOJ Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz released his report on the FBI's handling of the Clinton email investigation, which criticized Comey's actions during the 2016 election.[13]

Donald Trump fired Comey on May 9, 2017.[14][15][16] Statements from Trump and the White House suggested that Comey had been fired to ease the "pressure" Trump was under due to the Mueller investigation.[17][18][19] Later that month, Comey arranged for a friend to leak to the press a memo he had written after a February 14, 2017, private meeting with the president. It said Trump had asked him to end the FBI's investigation into Michael Flynn, the former national security advisor. The dismissal, various memos detailing meetings with Trump, and Comey's subsequent Congressional testimony in June that same year were interpreted by some commentators as evidence of obstruction of justice on Trump's part and became part of the Mueller investigation.[20] Horowitz found that Comey violated FBI policy regarding the leaked memos; however, added that there's "no evidence that Comey or his attorneys released any of the classified information contained in any of the memos to members of the media". The Department of Justice declined to prosecute Comey.[21] In August 2019, the Office of the Inspector General found Comey's retention, handling, and dissemination of the memos violated DOJ policies, FBI policies, and his FBI employment agreement.[22] In December 2019, Horowitz released a report finding no political bias against Trump by Comey or other FBI officials.[23]

  1. ^ Comey, James (July 7, 2016). Hillary Clinton Email Investigation. C-SPAN. Event occurs at 01:35:57. Retrieved July 7, 2016. I have been registered Republican for most of my adult life. Not registered any longer.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference bump2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Gerstein, Josh (May 9, 2017). "Trump fires FBI Director James Comey". Politico. Archived from the original on May 9, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
  4. ^ Krieg, Gregory (May 9, 2017). "Who is James Comey: 7 things to know about the fired FBI director". CNN. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
  5. ^ "James B. Comey, September 4, 2013 – May 9, 2017". FBI.gov. Retrieved June 9, 2017.
  6. ^ "Former US Deputy Attorney General joins HSBC Board". HSBC Holdings plc. January 30, 2013. Archived from the original on April 7, 2013. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  7. ^ "Himes Congratulates Westport's James Comey as New FBI Director". Congressman Jim Himes website. July 31, 2013. Archived from the original on August 19, 2016. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT23April17 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Anapol, Avery (May 21, 2018). "Watchdog to fault FBI's review of Clinton emails before election: report". The Hill. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  10. ^ Silver, Nate (May 3, 2017). "The Comey Letter Probably Cost Clinton The Election". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
  11. ^ McElwee, Sean; McDermott, Matt; Jordan, Will (January 11, 2017). "4 pieces of evidence showing FBI Director James Comey cost Clinton the election". Vox. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  12. ^ McLean, Bethany (February 21, 2017). "The True Story of the Comey Letter Debacle". Vanity Fair. Retrieved June 9, 2017.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference Devlin was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Karl, Jonathan; Keneally, Meghan; Fishel, Justin (May 9, 2017). "FBI Director Comey fired amid Russia probe". ABC News. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT11may17 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Wang, Christine (May 10, 2017). "Comey reportedly asked for more resources for Russia probe; DOJ calls reports 'totally false'". CNBC. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
  17. ^ Liptak, Kevin (May 12, 2017). "White House: Removing Comey will help bring Russia investigation to end". CNN. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
  18. ^ Barrett, Devlin; Rucker, Philip (May 11, 2017). "Trump said he was thinking of Russia controversy when he decided to fire Comey". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 12, 2017.
  19. ^ Apuzzo, Matt; Haberman, Maggie; Rosenberg, Matthew (May 19, 2017). "Trump Told Russians That Firing 'Nut Job' Comey Eased Pressure From Investigation". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 19, 2017.
  20. ^ Barrett, Devlin; Entous, Adam; Nakashima, Ellen; Horwitz, Sari (June 14, 2017). "Special counsel is investigating Trump for possible obstruction of justice, officials say". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference CNNwatchdog was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  22. ^ Mallin, Alexander (August 30, 2019). "Inspector general finds Comey violated FBI policy on Trump memos, DOJ declines prosecution". ABC News. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  23. ^ Dilanian, Ken; Williams, Pete; Ainsley, Julia (December 9, 2019). "DOJ report finds Russia probe was justified, not biased against Trump". NBC News.