FBI survey contradicts Trump’s claim about Comey

WASHINGTON — As FBI director, James Comey had widespread support from his agents, according to internal survey data released Wednesday that contradict President Trump’s claim that he fired Comey in part because agents had lost confidence in him.

Comey’s firing is among many topics now under investigation by the Justice Department special counsel, Robert Mueller. Trump and his aides have offered changing explanations for why he fired Comey, who was overseeing the investigation into Trump’s associates and possible links to Russia’s election interference.

The FBI released the results of three years of internal questionnaires in response to a public records request by the New York Times. The surveys reveal that agents around the country gave FBI leadership high marks — 4.01 on a scale of 5 — in this year’s survey. The FBI considers scores over 3.81 an indication of success.

Among officials at FBI headquarters in Washington, Comey scored highly in nearly every category. His direct subordinates rated him 4.48 on the question of whether they would work with him again. His scores over his three-year tenure were consistently high.

The latest batch of surveys was conducted in March, months after Comey was widely criticized for speaking publicly in July 2016 and again in October about the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server. His former deputy, Andrew McCabe, has testified that Comey had not lost the support of his agents.

When he was fired in May, Comey was supervising the investigation into whether Trump campaign officials colluded with Russian operatives to tip the election in Trump’s favor.