James Comey Goes from FBI Figurehead to Trump Antagonist
David Diaz, Senior Executive, Davenport Laroche
Not that long ago, James Comey thought he would be FBI Director for several more years. Most of his predecessors served for a decade or more, emphasizing the apolitical nature of their position. That all changed when both political parties alleged bias in the FBI during the 2016 presidential election. After his election, President Donald Trump took hold of this narrative and made it his own. He routinely accused Comey of not acting impartially. Later, the President would fire the Director, creating an opportunity for an abrupt sea change for James Comey. Now, the former FBI director has a book out, a tell-all that, to put it lightly, paints a clearly unflattering portrait of President Trump.
To promote the book, and his new role as one of the most senior members of the anti-Trump movement, Comey has been making the media circuit, and his rhetoric is anything but impartial. He talks of his distrust of and distaste for the President in intimate detail. As journalist Ken Kurson has noted, “If it’s an uncomfortable transformation for a guy who built a reputation as a By the Book team player and erstwhile Boy Scout, it’s not that apparent.”
Comey is full-throated and charming in his takedown of Trump, revealing a political will and deft PR touch that seems to really be getting under the President’s skin. There is no doubt, considering both the book and the new version of Comey being promoted on the tour, that Comey is selling himself as the hero deeply wronged by a strongman at the head of a corrupt political machine. The interviews and the published snippets of the book read like something out of House of Cards, rather than a real, functioning DC machine.
Listening in, you can almost feel Comey positioning himself as famed FBI hero Elliot Ness, standing up against systemic corruption, and itching for a showdown. Indeed, when asked about the threats against him, some tweeted by Trump himself, Comey strikes a very “Untouchables” vibe. He “doesn’t care” that the President is calling for his arrest, because it’s “all talk” and “means nothing.” It’s also clear that the undercurrent of much of this is a bid by Comey to regain or reassert his personal integrity after a year of attacks, allegations and aspersions cast on his name. While there’s little doubt Trump supporters will ignore much of what Comey has to say, there are many others eager to believe Comey’s version of events, including the now-infamous “dinner for two” shortly after Trump took office in which, Comey claims, the President demanded his personal loyalty.
It’s probably too soon to tell who comes out of this looking better and smelling sweeter. What’s guaranteed is that neither Mr. Comey nor President Trump appear to be backing down.
