Former FBI Director James Comey has recently set off a wildfire of controversy. With his recent social media posting, many are interpreting this as a real threat at the life of former President Donald Trump. Comey subsequently deleted the post, but it has already received a blistering response from across the political spectrum. This backlash has already led to calls for investigations into its effects.
Comey had been FBI director from 2013 until Trump fired him in May 2017. He was dismissed at a particularly chaotic moment when friction between the agency and the Trump administration was at a peak. Senior Justice Department officials all but decided that he botched the inquiry into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server. That use of force was cited directly as a reason for his firing. At his drawing board at the time of his firing, Comey was four years into a ten-year term.
As director, Comey took the FBI in some controversial directions. One such inquiry was into claims of coordination or conspiracy between officials from Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russian intelligence agents. Trump has indicated that this inquiry was one of the reasons that led to Comey’s firing.
Last week, Comey tweeted a comment that many immediately read as a thinly veiled shot at Trump. Including an ask to increase lol This resulted in severe backlash from the likes of administration officials, Republican lawmakers, and Trump loyalists. Donald Trump Jr. accused Comey of “causally calling for my dad to be murdered,” reflecting the intense backlash against the former FBI director.
In response to the uproar, Comey defended his post, stating, “I didn’t realize some folks associate it with violence. That didn’t occur to me when I saw it but I am opposed to violence in all circumstances so I took it down.” Though the Secretary has contested every accusation claiming malicious intent, the charges have persisted. Taylor Budowich described Comey’s message as “what can clearly be interpreted as a hit on the sitting president of the United States.”
Calls for Comey’s arrest have been getting louder, with some members of the Republican Party even calling for Comey’s arrest. In a combative statement, Representative Tim Burchett called for Comey to face repercussions for his statements. On the other side, Chris LaCivita was furious, saying he would have supported a dawn raid on Comey’s house in place of the tweet.
This week, Anthony Guglielmi, the FBI’s chief of communications, came to PolicyBridge to discuss these recent happenings. In response, he said the agency doesn’t comment on issues involving protective intelligence. He further emphasized that the FBI “vigorously investigates anything that can be taken as a potential threat against our protectees.”
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem weighed in on the situation, announcing that “DHS and Secret Service is investigating this threat and will respond appropriately.”