Once lionized by the media, we too admired James Comey, especially since he hailed from our own backyard in Allendale, New Jersey. But power got to his head, and he began to see himself not just as part of the institution, but as the institution. The illusion shattered during the first Trump administration, when his actions spoke louder than his lofty words. It became unmistakable when he dispatched agents to target General Mike Flynn and destabilize a fledgling presidency. As Comey himself later admitted:
I sent them. Something we, I probably wouldn’t have done or maybe gotten away with in a more organized administration... In the George W. Bush administration or the Obama administration, the protocol was two agents meet with the White House counsel, then they go in. I thought: it’s early enough, let’s just send a couple guys over.
After President Trump was convicted as a felon in New York, when aggressive prosecutors and judges there engaged in lawfare unprecedented in American history, James Comey, the former FBI Director disgraced after being fired by President Trump, appeared on Jen Psaki's talk show on MSNBC.
Psaki: Do you agree with that? That it would be difficult or nearly impossible for law enforcement institutions to put him in an actual jail?
Comey: No, they would just put him in a double wide somewhere out near the fence, out in the grass, and he would eat there, he'd shower there, he'd exercise there. He'd be away, as Tonya Perry said, from the general population, but it's obviously doable.
Karma calls in strange ways, and today, it appears more likely that James Comey could be imprisoned instead. He returned home after being interviewed by Secret Service agents on Friday following a Comey Instagram post (which he later quickly took down) that showed an image with the symbol "86 47."
As anyone who has read Dan Brown's books or watched movies inspired by them knows —The Da Vinci Code (2006) and Angels & Demons (2009) come to mind — symbols have meaning. Brown uses symbols and codes found in art, history, science, and religion, which are interpreted by the protagonist Robert Langdon, a Harvard professor of religious iconology and symbology, and which lead to the discovery of hidden meanings and potentially dangerous conspiracies.
Comey's 86 47 message has an eerie meaning in the Dan Brown world of symbology. In the restaurant industry, "86" means to remove or cancel an item from the menu or order, typically because it's out of stock or unavailable. For example, a server might say, "86 the lasagna," indicating it's no longer available. Or a restaurant manager might tell an employee, "86 that customer," meaning that the employee must throw the customer out, perhaps because he was being unruly.
So, was the former FBI Director advocating the removal of the 47th President of the United States? As someone who once served as the third senior-most law enforcement officer in the land (after the President and the Attorney General), do we now have in our midst a person who is so delusional that he wants President Trump killed? Weren't two prior attempts at President Trump's life enough?
In an interview with Bret Baier of Fox News, President Trump chimed in: "He knew exactly what that meant," Trump said. "A child knows what that means. If you're the FBI director and you don't know what that meant, that meant assassination. And it says it loud and clear."
Comey, who has always worn a righteous lapel on his sleeve, has publicly admitted that he regarded President Trump as a compromised person, someone with values unbecoming of an occupant of the White House. To this end, he sought to harm him politically, including by taking notes and leaking confidential memos to a Columbia professor who later revealed them to the New York Times. A quintessential insider who knows how Washington works, Comey got a Special Counsel appointed to investigate Russia-Russia-Russia charges against Trump. The allegations turned out to be a big dud.
It's not that Comey was a darling of the Democrats, either. On July 5, 2016, Comey held an unusual public press conference to announce the FBI's findings on Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server during her time as Secretary of State. Comey stated that the FBI would not recommend criminal charges, as there was no evidence Clinton intentionally mishandled classified information. But, rather than stopping at that juncture, he began to preach, describing her conduct as "extremely careless," a phrase that closely resembled the legal term "grossly negligent," which could imply criminality.
The Democrats were furious at Comey for crossing the line. In our system of government, the FBI investigates, but the U.S. Attorney recommends charges and brings them to court, where, under the direction of a judge, the accused can have the charges dismissed if a jury finds her not guilty. By denying Hillary a chance to have her say in court but still implying that she was guilty, he was trampling on her rights as a defendant.
After the Clinton campaign somehow recovered, Comey brought about the classic "October surprise" roughly ten days before the November 8, 2016, election. This time, Comey sent a letter to Congress announcing that the FBI was reviewing newly discovered emails potentially relevant to the Clinton investigation, stemming from an unrelated probe into Anthony Weiner. Many liberals believe to this day that the Comey letter was the reason Hillary lost.
Comey's conduct after his firing showed what a shameless character he is. Unbelievably, Comey wrote a book and undertook a tour to promote it.
Critics, including conservative and liberal commentators, accused Comey of presenting himself as a paragon of virtue, which they found sanctimonious and off-putting. In a Politico Magazine article, Comey was criticized for "drenching the public discourse with the stink of sanctimony" by portraying himself as the "embodiment of ethical values" while promoting his book. The article highlighted his self-description as a humble, principled leader, citing trivial acts like not cutting in line at the FBI cafeteria, which critics found exaggerated and self-serving. The Wall Street Journal editorial board noted that Comey's book reminded readers of his tendency to prioritize public perception over legal impartiality, reinforcing perceptions of him as overly concerned with his image.
Public trust in the FBI has suffered in recent years, across party lines. A recent TIPP Poll finds that most Americans believe the bureau has become too politicized.
That Boy Scout image is now gone as he fends for himself alone. For a town that worships friendships, Comey has no one to stand up for him. A higher loyalty, it turns out, cannot be claimed. It must be lived, and Comey fell far short.
Karma does not discriminate.
