FBI Director James Comey

FBI Director James Comey
Name	James Comey
Birth date	14 December 1960
Birth place	Yonkers, New York
Occupation	Lawyer; former FBI Director; public speaker; author
Alma mater	College of William & Mary; University of Chicago Law School
Office	Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Term start	2013
Term end	2017
Predecessor	Robert Mueller
Successor	Christopher A. Wray

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FBI Director James Comey

James Comey is an American lawyer who served as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 2013 to 2017. He previously served as United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York and as Deputy Attorney General at the United States Department of Justice during the administration of George W. Bush. Comey has since engaged in public commentary, authored a memoir, and lectured at academic and civic venues.

Early life and education

Comey was born in Yonkers, New York and raised in Allendale, New Jersey and Chappaqua, New York. He attended Northwestern University-connected preparatory programs and matriculated at the College of William & Mary, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in chemistry. He later attended University of Chicago Law School, receiving a Juris Doctor, and clerked for Judge John M. Walker Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit before entering private practice at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

Comey practiced law at King & Spalding and Hughes Hubbard & Reed before joining the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. He also worked at Lockheed Martin as general counsel and served as general counsel at Bridgewater Associates and other private firms. His private-sector roles intersected with dealings involving Microsoft, General Electric, JPMorgan Chase, and corporate compliance matters. During this period he developed relationships with figures from Wall Street such as executives at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, and with legal scholars from Harvard Law School and Yale Law School who later commented on his public service.

As United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Comey prosecuted cases involving figures from Wall Street and the WorldCom and Enron era, worked with prosecutors from the Securities and Exchange Commission, and coordinated with judges on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. He later served as Deputy Attorney General at the United States Department of Justice where he oversaw the Virginia Tech-era reforms and national security litigation including prosecutions related to terrorism, coordination with the Central Intelligence Agency, and matters touching on the USA PATRIOT Act. His supervisory roles connected him to officials at the Department of Defense, National Security Agency, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the United States Senate, Comey succeeded Robert Mueller as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. His tenure addressed cybersecurity threats involving Sony Pictures Entertainment, counterintelligence investigations linked to Russia, and law enforcement responses to incidents such as the Boston Marathon bombing fallout and the San Bernardino attack investigations. He testified before the United States Senate Judiciary Committee and the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and worked with attorneys general including Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch. Comey's public-facing decisions often brought him into contact with presidential administrations, members of Congress such as Dianne Feinstein and Lindsey Graham, and international partners at agencies like MI5 and Interpol.

During his tenure Comey oversaw the FBI's probe into email practices associated with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation inquiry, which prompted scrutiny from political figures including Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, and Marco Rubio. The FBI also investigated alleged links between the 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump and Russian actors including contacts tied to Vladimir Putin and organizations such as Guccifer 2.0. Comey's decision to announce investigative steps publicly, including a 2016 press conference and a letter to Congress shortly before the 2016 United States presidential election, generated criticism from legal scholars like Alan Dershowitz and commentators at outlets such as The New York Times and The Washington Post. In May 2017 President Donald Trump dismissed Comey, a move that precipitated congressional inquiries led by committees chaired by lawmakers like Devin Nunes and Adam Schiff, and contributed to the appointment of Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III to investigate election interference and related matters. The dismissal sparked analyses by constitutional scholars at institutions including Columbia Law School, Stanford Law School, and Harvard Kennedy School.

After leaving the FBI, Comey wrote a memoir published by Crown Publishing Group and engaged in speaking engagements at venues such as Harvard University, Yale University, Stanford University, and the John F. Kennedy School of Government. He has appeared on media outlets including CBS News, NBC News, CNN, and Fox News, and provided testimony before congressional committees about his interactions with the Trump administration. Comey has collaborated with non-profit organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union on issues of civil liberties, worked with think tanks such as the Brookings Institution and the Heritage Foundation on policy discussions, and consulted with private-sector cybersecurity firms including CrowdStrike and Mandiant. He remains a figure in debates involving nominees to the United States Supreme Court and legislative efforts on surveillance law reform involving statutes like the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Category:Directors of the Federal Bureau of Investigation