James B. Comey

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James B. Comey (2013)
Signature of James B. Comey (2016)

James Brien Comey, Jr. (born December 14, 1960 in Yonkers , New York ) is an American lawyer , business manager and government official. He was the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from September 4, 2013 until his release on May 9, 2017 . From 2003 to 2005 he was the United States' Deputy Secretary of Justice .

Live and act

Education and personal

Comey's ancestors come from Ireland. The second of four children James Comey grew up in a small town in Bergen County ( New Jersey on); his father worked in the real estate business and was on the local council. The family was very active in the local community. At the age of 17 he and his brother came under the control of a kidnapper, which Comey described as a formative experience, especially for understanding the victim's perspective of crime. After attending school, Comey first studied chemistry and religion at the College of William & Mary and graduated in 1982 with a Bachelor of Science . He then completed postgraduate studies in law at the Law School of the University of Chicago in 1985 with a Juris Doctor .

Comey and his wife Patrice, whom he married in 1987, have five children. They also have a foster child. Raised a Catholic, he converted to Methodism .

He has long been respected across party lines and is considered independent and with integrity. After he had supported the Democrat Jimmy Carter in the 1980 presidential election , Comey joined the Republican Party and supported the presidential candidacies of John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012 against Barack Obama .

Beginnings in justice and administration

After studying Comey worked for the Rechtsberatungsrat of the National Legal Center for the Public Interest and entered 1987 as a prosecutor in the US Justice Department one in which he held until 1993 deputy head of the Department of Criminal Law (Criminal Division) for the Southern District of New York was. He also taught at the University of Richmond . In 2002 he became a United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York . Among other things, he investigated the Al-Chubar bombing .

From 2003 to 2005, Comey was the United States' Deputy Secretary of Justice . As such, he opposed some torture and surveillance measures by the George W. Bush administration , which came into effect with changes.

In business and teaching

In 2005, he became senior vice president and chief legal advisor at the defense and technology company Lockheed Martin . From 2010 to 2013 he was chief legal counsel at Bridgewater Associates hedge fund . In 2013 he was a board member at HSBC Holdings PLC . In March 2011 he received the Carter O. Lowance Fellowship from his alma mater for his service to society . From February 2013 he was a professor at the Law School of Columbia University .

FBI director under President Obama

Comey (at the podium) at his introduction with predecessor Robert Mueller (left) and President Obama

In May 2013, President Obama proposed Comey, who was valued by Democrats and Republicans, as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation . The United States Senate confirmed his nomination in July 2013; Comey took office as Robert Mueller's successor on September 4, 2013. The regular term of office is ten years.

Comey was twice the subject of public controversy ahead of the November 8, 2016 presidential election . In July 2016, he first announced under oath that candidate Hillary Clinton's handling of official e-mails should not be pursued further during her tenure as Secretary of State. He then published the FBI's internal decision to reopen the investigation eleven days before the election, sparking controversial political and public debates. This announcement helped Clinton's opponent Donald Trump , according to many observers ; because Comey had not yet viewed the new material in the case, Democratic and Republican US senators sharply criticized him . The Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz announced on 12 January 2017 that he wanted to be examined whether the FBI had acted lawfully in dealing with Clinton.

After Trump was elected , Comey was heard on March 20, 2017 by the US House of Representatives Committee on Intelligence . He announced that the FBI had already started an investigation into the Russia connections to Donald Trump and the attempted Russian influence on the election by hackers before the presidential election in 2016, but did not want to announce this a month before the election because he was the The view was that this could be seen as partisan interference. Comey also made it clear that the FBI had no evidence that would support Trump's wiretapping allegations against Obama . This was contrary to the statements of Trump. The relationship between Comey and Trump has since been considered strained.

Since President Trump's dismissal

Letter of discharge from Trump dated May 9, 2017

US President Trump dismissed Comey as FBI director on May 9, 2017 with immediate effect. Trump wrote that he was dismissing him on the advice of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his deputy Rod Rosenstein. The next day, Trump received Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and Ambassador Kisljak in the Oval Office and told them that he had been under pressure about the FBI's investigation into Russia and that the release of "nut" Comey had relieved him of that pressure. The following day, during an interview with NBC Nightly News , Trump contradicted the official reasoning for Comey's dismissal. Trump said he had wanted to fire the FBI director for a long time, regardless of Rosenstein's recommendation. The main reason for the decision was his anger over Comey's investigation into possible collusion between members of Trump's campaign team and representatives of Russia. "When I made up my mind, I said to myself, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story," said Trump. In the interview, Trump also referred to Comey as a “blender” and “show-off” and claimed that the FBI was in an uproar under Comey. The then acting FBI director Andrew McCabe disagreed with Trump's account. Comey continues to enjoy support and respect within the FBI.

In the days before his release, Trump had repeatedly criticized Comey and the FBI on Twitter : Its “taxpayer-financed” Russia investigations were a “ charade ” and a “total hoax”; he asked rhetorically when they would end. A few days earlier, Comey had requested more funding to investigate possible Russian influence on the US presidential election. Observers spoke of an attack on democracy and drew parallels with the 1973 Saturday Night Massacre during the Watergate affair .

Only one FBI director had been fired prior to Comey, the 1993 William S. Sessions of President Bill Clinton . The circumstances are different: Trump fired Comey because he was investigating Trump or members of his campaign team, while Sessions was fired by Clinton for tax evasion and other offenses.

Comey declined an invitation from the Senate Intelligence Committee to speak in a confidential meeting on the circumstances after Trump threatened him on May 12, 2017 via Twitter with the release of tapes of their conversations. On June 22, 2017, Trump admitted not knowing if there were tapes of the conversations between him and Comey. According to the New York Times , at a meeting in early February 2017, Trump tried to persuade Comey to drop the investigation into Michael T. Flynn ; the White House denied this representation. Such influence has been classified as a possible obstruction of justice. At the meeting, Trump is also said to have demanded a commitment of loyalty from Comey , whereupon Comey promised him honesty and ultimately "honest loyalty". After Comey's dismissal, Deputy US Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as a special counsel on May 17, 2017 with a comprehensive investigation mandate and access to resources to investigate ties to Russia and other possible misconduct in the area Investigate Trump's .

On June 8, 2017, Comey testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee publicly and in front of a large television audience. Comey reiterated the allegations against President Trump, including his request to stop the investigation against former security advisor Michael Flynn. Comey also accused Trump of lying about the grounds for dismissal: "The government had decided to demean me, and more importantly, the FBI. You said the organization was in a state of disintegration and was poorly managed. Those were lies, simple and simple. "

In mid-January 2018, special investigator Mueller interviewed him for several hours about ties to Russia.

Comey is a fellow at Howard University in Washington. His book, A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership , was published on April 17, 2018. The publisher printed 850,000 copies prior to publication to meet demand.

Books

  • James B. Comey: A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership , Macmillan USA, New York 2018. ISBN 978-1250192455

literature

Web links

Commons : James B. Comey  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Tom McCarthy: James Comey: Democrat by birth, Republican by trade, thorn in the side of both. In: The Guardian , March 25, 2017 (English).
  2. ↑ Annmarie Conboy-DePasquale: The Man, The Myth, The Director: James Comey in profiles. In: The World Mind. American University's undergraduate policy magazine for international and public affairs. April 24, 2017 (English).
  3. ↑ Dorothea Hahn: “You're fired!” In: taz.de , May 10, 2017.
  4. ↑ Mike Allen, Josh Gerstein: President Obama to tap James Comey for FBI. In: Politico , May 2013 (English).
  5. ↑ Mr. Comey's Tale. A standoff at a hospital bedside speaks volumes about Attorney General Gonzales. In: The Washington Post , May 15, 2007; "... he pushed back on certain elements of the Bush-Cheney torture and surveillance programs - but ended up signing off on both." In: The Intercept , February 25, 2016 (English).
  6. ^ FBI Executives. In: FBI.gov (English).
  7. ^ Former US Deputy Attorney General joins HSBC Board. ( Memento of April 7, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) In: HSBC Holdings plc , January 30, 2013 (English).
  8. ↑ James B. Comey, Jr. '82, honored for public service as Lowance Fellow. In: William & Mary College , March 28, 2011 (English).
  9. ^ Senior Research Scholar and Hertog Fellow on National Security Law, Announcement.
  10. ↑ Republicans to be the new FBI chief. In: N24.de , May 30, 2013.
  11. ↑ Obama's favorite: US Senate confirms Comey as new FBI boss. In: Spiegel Online , July 31, 2013.
  12. ↑ a b Spiegel Online , May 10, 2017 / Marc Pitzke : The Tuesday evening massacre.
  13. ^ Comey Tried to Shield the FBI From Politics. Then He Shaped an Election. . In: The New York Times , April 23, 2017, p. A1. Retrieved May 10, 2017. 
  14. ↑ Sari Horwitz, Tom Hamburger, Ellen Nakashima: Comey faces a firestorm of criticism over renewed Clinton email probe. In: The Washington Post , October 31, 2016.
  15. ^ Department of Justice examines FBI action against Clinton. In: FAZ.net , January 13, 2017.
  16. ↑ Simon Riesche: Rejection of Trump's conspiracy theories. In: FAZ.net , March 20, 2017.
  17. ^ Marc Pitzke: Public dismantling. In: Spiegel Online , March 20, 2017; Russia hearing: Comey says no information to confirm Trump's wiretap claims. In: The Guardian , March 20, 2017 (English, with further links).
  18. ↑ The fired FBI chief Comey speaks up. In: FAZ.net , May 11, 2017.
  19. ↑ Why Trump fired FBI boss Comey. In: Sueddeutsche.de , May 10, 2017.
  20. ↑ Matt Apuzzo, Maggie Haberman, Matthew Rosenberg: Trump Told Russians That Firing 'Nut Job' Comey Eased Pressure From Investigation . In: The New York Times , May 19, 2017.
  21. ↑ Trump calls ex-FBI boss Comey a "weirdo" . In: Spiegel Online , May 19, 2017.
  22. ↑ a b c Stefan Schaaf: New questions about Comeygate . In: taz . May 13, 2017.
  23. ↑ Devlin Barrett and Philip Rucker: Trump said he was thinking of Russia controversy when he decided to fire Comey . In: Washington Post . May 11, 2017 (English).
  24. ^ Ali Vitali, Corky Siemaszko: Trump Interview With Lester Holt: President Asked Comey If He Was Under Investigation. In: NBC News . May 11, 2017 (English).
  25. ↑ Matthew Rosenberg, Matt Apuzzo: Days Before He Was Fired, Comey Asked for Money for Russia Investigation. In: The New York Times , May 10, 2017.
  26. ^ John Cassidy: Donald Trump's Firing of James Comey Is an Attack on American Democracy. In: The New Yorker , May 9, 2017 (English); Todd S. Purdum: Trump pulls from Nixon's playbook. In: Politico . May 9, 2017 (English).
  27. ↑ Joe Sterling: Bill Clinton fired an FBI director 2 decades before Trump. In: CNN.com . May 10, 2017 (English).
  28. ↑ Shannon Vavra: Comey turns down Senate invite, won't testify. In: Axios.com . May 12, 2017 (English).
  29. ↑ Trump warns Comey against passing on information. In: Spiegel Online , May 12, 2017.
  30. ↑ Trump says he has no 'tapes' of Comey conversations. In: The Washington Post , June 22, 2017.
  31. ↑ Michael S. Schmidt: Comey Memo Says Trump Asked Him to End Flynn Investigation. In: The New York Times . May 16, 2017 (English).
  32. ↑ Rebecca R. Ruiz, Mark Landler: Robert Mueller, Former FBI Director, Is Named Special Counsel for Russia Investigation. In: The New York Times , May 17, 2017 (English).
  33. ↑ www.intelligence.senate.gov (PDF); Chris Cillizza: How the James Comey hearing is Washington's Super Bowl. In: CNN.com , June 6, 2017 (English).
  34. ↑ Clemens Wergin: Ex-FBI boss Comey: Donald Trump messed with the wrong person. In: Die Welt , June 8, 2017.
  35. ↑ Michael S. Schmidt: Comey and Sessions Are Questioned for Hours in Russia Inquiry. In: The New York Times , January 23, 2018.
  36. ^ Howard University Hires Former FBI Director James Comey. In: Time , August 23, 2017.
  37. ↑ Trump disclosure book from ex-FBI boss: Destruction on 384 pages. In: Spiegel Online , April 13, 2018.
  38. ^ Brian Stelter: Publisher printing 850,000 copies of James Comey book. In: CNN.com , April 13, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Comey, James B.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Comey, James Brien junior (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American lawyer and government official
DATE OF BIRTH December 14, 1960
PLACE OF BIRTH Yonkers , New York , United States