James Comey is the former Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation who was dismissed on May 9, 2017 by US President Donald Trump on allegations of mishandling Hillary Clinton’s email investigation. Prior to joining the FBI, Comey was US Deputy Attorney General from 2003 to 2005 and US Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 2002 to 2003.
Early Life and Education
James Comey was born on December 14, 1960 to father J. Brien and mother Joan. Raised in Allendale of New Jersey, Comey went to Northern Highlands Regional High School. Completing the high school education, James joined College of William and Mary for undergraduate degrees in chemistry and religion. After undergraduate, Comey went to University of Chicago Law School for a JD.
Personal Life
James Comey is married to wife Patrice Failor since 1987. The couple has five children: Maurene, Brien, Abby, Collin, Claire, and Kate Comey.
Career
Completing law school, James Comey worked as a law clerk for US District Judge John M. Walker. Working there for a year, he joined Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher as an associate. Moving on, in 1987, Comey entered the US Attorney Office in the Southern District of New York and remained there for six years. Subsequently, in 1996, he was appointed as Managing Assistant US Attorney and was responsible for looking over the Richmond Division of Eastern District of Virginia. Comey served in the position for five years i.e. until 2001.
On January 7, 2002, James assumed office as US Attorney for the Southern District of New York by succeeding Mary Jo White under Bush administration. Following up, he became US Deputy Attorney General on December 9, 2003 and the successor of Larry Thompson for the post. Under the capacity of Deputy Attorney General, James reserved his rights during the NSA domestic wiretapping allegations. This created a lot of controversy in the media. Likewise, James was both criticized and praised for his 13 enhanced interrogation techniques.
On August 15, 2005, James Comey officially left the office of Deputy Attorney General and joined private law firm Lockheed Martin as General Counsel and Senior Vice President. On June 2, 2010, he left the law firm to join Bridgewater Associates in Connecticut. He remained in the investment management firm for three years and became a fellow researcher at Columbia University Law School. During the same time, Comey was nominated as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation by President Obama.
As Director of the FBI, James was always critical about the apparent hostile relation between police and African Americans. Likewise, he commented in Poland and Holocaust at the Holocaust Memorial Museum. Comey’s comments picked huge criticism after implying that Polish were equally responsible for mass killing as Germans were. Likewise, on July 5, 2016, he announced Hillary Clinton’s innocence in email controversy and urged the Department of Justice to not to file any charges.
James Comey was highly involved in FBI investigation on Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential Election. As per the hearing on May 3, 2017, Comey said that ‘Russia is the greatest threat’ and they will try to interfere again in the future.
Donald Trump and James Comey
Following the recommendation of Jeff Sessions and Rod Rosenstein, President Donald Trump fired James Comey from the office of Director of the FBI on May 9, 2017. According to BBC, Comey was fired for poorly handling the case against Hillary Clinton on email controversy. However, the opposition says that the action took place as Comey was investigating the Russian Election Interference issue which could have revealed speculated alleged links between Trump and Vladimir Putin.
Trevor Noah’s take on the happening:
