Trump may have met his match
Reported Comey files could contain damaging details
In business and in politics, Donald Trump has proved himself time and again extraordinarily adept at vanquishing all comers.
But by firing the FBI director running an investigation into possible collusion between his campaign associates and Russia, Trump unleashed a formidable rival who may finally outdo him.
An untethered James Comey is the single greatest threat to Trump’s young administration.
Revelations that Comey maintained secret files of his encounters with Trump could give Comey more power than he had as FBI director.
“I think the president wildly underestimated Comey and the organization of the FBI,” said Ron Hosko, a former FBI assistant director who worked with Comey. “Jim Comey represents a huge challenge to the viability of this president.”
The bureau’s wide-ranging inquiry into Russia’s possible election intervention is not close to completion, but less than 24 hours after the existence of the former director’s personal files was made public, the news sent a shiver through Congress unlike any of the other crises that have engulfed the White House.
Lawmakers clamor for Comey’s notes or any recordings of the private conversations. At least four congressional committees — Senate Judiciary, Senate Intelligence, House Intelligence and House Oversight — have either requested documents or threatened subpoenas or signaled that they will.
The Senate Intelligence Committee requested Wednesday that the former FBI director appear before its panel in public and in closed sessions to discuss his contacts with Trump.
The panel requested testimony of acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe related to “any notes or memorandum prepared by the former director.”
Once Comey’s notes are in the hands of lawmakers, they are likely to feel pressure to take action.
“Based on what I know about Jim Comey, he was making notes about his meetings with Trump as soon as he got in the car or off the phone,” Hosko said. “And if the president thought he was going to use his charm to sway the focus of the Russia investigation, then he was very much mistaken.”
A source who has reviewed Comey’s notes said the documents are dated and detailed, including an account of his encounter with Trump on Feb. 14 in which the president allegedly urged Comey to back off an examination of former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Flynn had been fired the day before for lying about his communication with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak before the inauguration.
In the days after firing Comey, Trump called the Russia allegations a “made-up story” and told NBC the inquiry was on his mind when he fired the FBI chief. That contradicted his administration’s assertions and even his own widely disseminated termination letter stating the dismissal was based on the recommendations of Justice Department leaders, who objected to Comey’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation.
Trump called Comey — who got the news he was fired through TV news reports at the Los Angeles bureau — a “showboat” and “grandstander” who led the agen- cy into turmoil.
Though Comey’s management of the Clinton email investigation was strongly criticized by members of both parties during the election, few have questioned his personal integrity.
A career prosecutor, Comey held top Justice Department posts in the George W. Bush administration before being appointed FBI director by President Obama in 2013.
It’s likely that members of Congress on both sides will take his accounts seriously, and notes of events recorded by agents and investigators are often given strong consideration by courts.
Former Trump campaign aide Michael Caputo said the true opponent isn’t actually Comey but the “Never Trump” political faction using the memo as an excuse to attack the president.
“It’s not Comey who’s flooding the zone, it is the anti-Trump zealots who are flooding the zone,” Caputo said. “It’s a shame they’re making Comey a pawn in their play.”
Caputo said Trump has faced crises before and prevailed, most notably in the election in November. “I think Donald Trump is in for the fight of his life,” he said, “and I think he’s up for it.”