Former FBI Director James Comey’s New Book: The Russia Story Won’t Go Away

RNC, DNC Will Dig in on PR Strategies as High-Profile Books Consume News CycleAndrew Blum, Principal, AJB CommunicationsThe “Trump news cycle” continues to be consumed by Russia and books about the current White House and the Russia investigation. Into this politically charged PR mix comes former FBI Director James Comey’s new book.Even before “A Higher Loyalty” officially hit book stores today (April 17), Trump called Comey “an untruthful slime ball” and a leaker. Comey, in his first media interview about the book on ABC News on Sunday night, in turn said Trump was “morally unfit to be president.”None of this is a surprise – it’s just the latest development in a head-spinning few days. First, details and copies of the Comey book began leaking out late last week. Then it was reported that that Trump was about to pardon Scooter Libby. (What?) It was also reported that Special Counsel Robert Mueller was readying a prosecutorial report on Trump and several areas of potential obstruction of justice. While many Republicans blasted Comey over his book, Nicolle Wallace, former White House communications director in the George W. Bush White House, blew up the GOP while appearing on colleague Rachel Maddow’s MSNBC show discussing the Comey book.This was all in a few minutes. And then when President Trump ordered the Syria bombing in response to the chemical weapons attack, Maddow questioned whether that was a “wag the dog” to distract from Comey’s book and the Russia probe as well as the FBI raid on Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen.Into this PR and political mess waded Comey’s 300-page book published by Macmillan Publishers' Flatiron Books. If “Fire and Fury” is any indication, “A Higher Loyalty” will assure that the Russia story will be around for a while longer, despite the GOP and the Trump administration’s wishes that the probe and the news coverage would go away.Comey, as you recall, has made himself an enemy of both the Democrats and the Republicans – first during the later stages of the 2016 election when he publicly announced the end of the Hillary Clinton email probe, then re-opened it days before the election and finally closed it again.He also upset the GOP and President Trump by his aggressive approach to the Russia probe. That led to his 2017 firing, his congressional testimony and the appointment of Special Counsel Mueller.The RNC and DNC response to the Comey book will add to the list of how high-profile books have recently taken over the news cycle. Having books like this to promote is a book publicist’s dream.Michael Wolff’s “Fire and Fury” sold more than 1.7 million copies, licensed in 30 foreign rights and was also sold into a TV series. The Comey book, meanwhile had a first printing of 850,000 copies – learning from “Fire and Fury,” which didn’t print enough copies at first.Following Comey’s ABC interview, the rest of his book tour will hit all the major media outlets, fanning the Russia and Comey stories more and keeping political PR pros on both sides of the aisle busy.[author]About the Author: Andrew Blum is a PR consultant and media trainer and principal of AJB Communications. He has directed PR for authors and publishers, professional services and financial services firms, NGOs, agencies and other clients. As a PR executive, and formerly as a journalist, he has been involved on both sides of the media aisle in some of the most media intensive crises of the past 25 years. Contact him at ajbcomms@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter: @ajbcomms[/author]