James Comey doubles down despite facing indictment

Adriana Stone 0 2 min read

Comey Doubles Down on TV Again

James Comey showed up on Meet the Press and did what he always seems to do: act like the problem is everyone else. He is facing a second federal indictment, but the former FBI director still found time to lecture other people about the rules.

The interview came after Comey was indicted last month over an Instagram post with seashells arranged to spell out “86 47.” Prosecutors say the post was “a serious expression of an intent to do harm to the president of the United States.” Comey deleted it after the backlash hit, and he refused to get deep into the case on air. But he had no trouble going after Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.

The exchange was classic Comey. Blanche had said the case was built on “a body of evidence” gathered over about 11 months, not just one post. Comey’s answer was to school him in public. “I don’t talk about the case because the federal court rules require you not,” Comey said. “I would urge the acting attorney general to bone up on the rules.”

He also tried to make the Instagram post sound harmless. Comey said he is now a private citizen and uses the platform “the way any awkward, nerdy dad would.” That line may play well with his fans, but it does not erase the reality that the post was not about brunch, sunsets, or family photos. Prosecutors say “86 47” was a message aimed at the 47th president.

Then came the familiar Comey move: total confidence in the system, as long as the system is not holding him to account. He said he has “complete faith” in the judicial process and called it “the only leg” of government “still standing.” He also repeated his innocence claim with no hesitation. “I’m not just not guilty, I am innocent, and so let’s go.”

The interview also dragged the country back to 2016, because Comey can never really escape that mess. Asked about reopening Hillary Clinton’s email investigation just 11 days before the election, he admitted the situation was ugly but stood by the call. “But again, we made the decision because it was the least-bad option. Both options sucked, honestly. But this was the one most consistent with the values of the department. So as painful as it is, I’d have to do the same thing again.”

That answer will not calm down Democrats who still blame him for Clinton’s collapse. It will not reassure Republicans who still remember the Russia investigation and the way the FBI was used as a weapon against Trump. Comey says he was just doing the hard thing. A lot of Americans see something different: a man who keeps defending his own choices while pointing fingers at everybody else.

He did not stop there. Comey called the Justice Department “seriously broken at the top” and told career employees to hang on for another two and a half years. In his view, the real fix will come later, when the right people are back in charge. That is a convenient message from someone who has spent years helping create the distrust he now complains about.

For a man who says the courtroom is the proper place for these fights, Comey sure spent a lot of time on television making his case.

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