President Trump and an anxious public await former FBI director James Comey's book
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From real-life political thrillers, juicy memoirs and the life of our American Princess, here’s a sneak peek at the some of the most anticipated books of 2018.
USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — The last time an FBI director penned a memoir, the American public anxiously awaited a personal account of a director’s fraught relationship with a U.S. president.
In that book, Louis Freeh devoted a chapter to his icy association with Bill Clinton, aptly titled, “Bill and Me.”
That was 2005, when Freeh and Clinton were long-gone from their respective offices.
Thirteen years later, Jim Comey is set to drop a tome of perhaps unprecedented anticipation about his own extraordinary tenure — cut dramatically short by the commander in chief.
Unlike Freeh’s work, Comey’s book arrives less than a year after his abrupt dismissal by President Trump and as the former FBI director stands as a potential witness to Trump’s possible efforts to obstruct the ongoing inquiry into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. Trump has said he fired Comey for his handling of the Russia inquiry.
The book’s roll-out also comes as the Justice Department’s inspector general is poised to release what promises to be a deeply critical assessment of how the FBI — under Comey’s leadership — handled the politically charged investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while secretary of State.
The timing is at once proving to be a marketing bonanza for booksellers, while Comey’s supporters and detractors — especially those hunkered down inside an already chaotic White House — are bracing for a likely firestorm to follow.
As recently as last week, Trump has taken both direct and indirect shots at Comey, appearing to taunt him on Twitter for closing what he described as “a rigged investigation” into Clinton’s private email use. The following day, he singled out the former FBI director and other former Justice officials for abusing surveillance authority in tracking former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
“BAD!” Trump tweeted Saturday afternoon.
For Trump, the critique was mild compared to prior characterizations of Comey as “a liar” and “a leaker.”
Trump has used the disparaging language to describe the former director’s explosive congressional testimony last summer in which he acknowledged documenting his personal encounters with the president, in part, because he believed that Trump could not be trusted.Â
The president’s comments, analysts said, may only serve as a preview for what is to come when Comey’s book — A Higher Loyalty Truth, Lies and Leadership — is released next week.
Ron Hosko, a former FBI assistant director who served briefly under Comey and is supportive of him, said he doesn’t expect the book to change the minds of many who witnessed the turbulent weeks and months following the director’s firing.
“In this hyper contentious environment, the book may only deepen the political divide between those who support Comey and those who believe that Trump was right to dismiss him,” Hosko said.
“I enjoyed working for Jim Comey. He is personable, likable, smart and engaged. I think he was very good for the bureau. But I’m troubled by the timing of this,” he said, referring to the open Russia investigation and the pending inspector general inquiry. “That said, I think he’s got something to say and I’m still going to put down my 25 bucks.”
Chris Swecker, another former assistant FBI director who believes Comey invited criticism for his handling of the Clinton inquiry, fears that Comey’s re-appearance on the national stage risks drawing the bureau — by extension — further into Trump’s cross-hairs.Â
“I respect him and I think he believes what he’s doing and what he has to say,” Swecker said. “But he’s wading right into the middle of political firestorm. He’s putting the FBI in the political arena again just as (new FBI Director) Chris Wray tries to extricate the bureau from it.”
Comey’s congressional testimony
Except for his occasional commentary on Twitter, Comey’s last turn on the public stage was an equally anticipated June 8 appearance before the Senate Intelligence Committee.
And he delivered in stunning detail.
He described his decision to memorialize several troubling encounters with president, both in person and on the telephone when the president variously asked for a pledge of “loyalty,” and pressured him to “lift the cloud” of the Russia investigation.
The memos detailing his interactions has since been turned over to Justice special counsel Robert Mueller who is now managing the Russia inquiry. As part of that probe, Mueller is reviewing whether Trump attempted to obstruct the investigation by his encounters with Comey and with his ultimate decision to fire him last May.
“It was the subject matter and the person I was interacting with,” Comey told the Senate panel last year, explaining the decision to maintain the notes. “It was the nature of the person. I was honestly concerned that he would lie about the nature of our meeting. I felt I’ve got to write it down and I’ve got to write it down in a detailed way. I knew there might come a day when I would need a written record to defend me and the FBI.’’
A major focus of the June hearing was Comey’s account of a Feb. 14, 2017, meeting at the White House where the former director said Trump urged him to drop the FBI’s then-ongoing investigation of Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser.
Flynn had been fired the day before for lying to Vice President Pence about his communications with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. (Flynn has since pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his communications with the ambassador and is cooperating with the ongoing Russia inquiry.)
 “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go,” Comey quoted the president as saying. “He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.”
Comey told the senators that he was “so stunned by the conversation that I just took it in,” adding that he took Trump’s words as “a direction to drop the investigation.”
“I didn’t obey that,” Comey told the panel. “But that’s what I thought.”
It is immediately unclear how much of the book will be devoted to a recounting of that testimony. Though part of the title — “Truth, Lies and Leadership” — strongly suggests that it will not be left in the hearing room.
William Bratton, the former New York police commissioner and friend of the former director, believes Comey’s story could actually bring clarity to “a very confusing time” in the country’s political life.
“Quite honestly, I think he believes he has a story to tell and wants to tell it in his own words,” Bratton said. “I think it could be helpful for him to explain how he approached the difficult decisions he made.”
Bratton referred to Comey’s hotly disputed role in the Clinton investigation, which included a decision to bypass the attorney general and publicly recommend the closure of the investigation, only to re-open it days before the November election.
Clinton has said that the late action cost her the election;Â Trump would later refer to his handling of the Clinton case as a reason for his firing.
“I believe he was trying to do the right thing,” Bratton said. “It’s not easy to pit both sides against you in the way that it happened. Maybe he can shed new light on this that could be helpful.”
Tim Weiner, an author who has written extensively about the FBI and Comey, said the former director’s story may be more important now than ever.
Referring to a 2004 hospital room scene in which Comey and then-FBI director Mueller famously opposed the Bush administration’s plan to renew a controversial warrant-less surveillance while Attorney General John Ashcroft lay critically ill, Weiner said Comey established himself as an unlikely “oppositional figure” who now finds himself an “important witness” against Trump.
“For such a buttoned-down guy, he’s got a streak of the rebel,” Weiner said. “It must be in the Irish in him. I think he’s going to point where the lies are. You’re looking at somebody who can bear witness like nobody else can do right now. It’s a great story, and he knows it.”
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