James Comey's book tour and his image, improved or declined?

Mevater

Tue, Apr 17 2018, 8:39 am

"For decades, James B. Comey cultivated an image of purity as a lawman who stood above politics and politicians.

Then came the book tour.

With the release of his memoir this week and a set of high-profile media interviews to publicize it, Mr. Comey — whose firing by President Trump made him a hero to the president’s critics — has veered onto risky terrain, shedding the trappings of a high-minded referee and looking instead like a combatant in the country’s partisan battles."

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/0......html

Imho, never mind partisan politics, Comey is ruining his reputation. Anything for a buck.

This week, while publicizing his book, James Comey has been singing his praises to everyone who interviews him, about his leadership qualities, honesty, judgement, etc. so excessively, making himself out to be a super-human. In addition, Comey's knocking Trump's too long ties, analyzing Trump's hair, white circles under his eyes, and orange skin-tone, , is all unflattering and counter-productive to Comey's image.

It seem Comey is putting book profits ahead of his previously innocent and clean professional public servant image.

Mevater

Tue, Apr 17 2018, 9:17 am

shoshanim999 wrote:

I'd say it's lowered my opinion of him. The funniest part part about this saga was a few days ago CNN ran a headline saying that Comey believes Trump is morally unfit to serve as president. Right. So the guy who was fired, feels the guy who fired him is unfit for office. In other news, the weather is expected to heat up in the summer. However, it is expected to cool off in the fall.

Had Comey left it at offering an opinion on whether Trump is fit for the presidency and not mocked his hair, neckties, orange skintone, etc, Comey would look way more respectable.

Comey is heavily peddling his unclassy book and chose to include any funny Trump descriptions that Trump mockers would enjoy reading.

Mevater

Tue, Apr 17 2018, 6:29 pm

Yes, Im obsessed.

James Comey is worth in excess of 15 million. How? Read this:

"James Comey Net Worth: Approximately $15.5M
Comey was the general counsel for Lockheed Martin Corp. from when he stopped serving as Deputy Attorney General in 2005 to 2010, and then he was counsel for Connecticut-based hedge fund Bridgewater Associates from 2010 to 2013, both lucrative positions with his last year at Lockheed Martin alone earning him more than $6 million. What’s more, he earned a $3 million profit-sharing payout from Bridgewater Associates upon leaving for the FBI, most likely boosting his net worth to closer to $15 million.

While serving as the director of the FBI, Comey would have taken a significant pay cut. The post is a Level III on the federal executive schedule, meaning he was making $172,100 a year, far less than he earned in the private sector but still nothing to scoff at.

But since getting fired from his position running the Bureau by President Donald Trump, Comey has likely managed to pad his net worth even more. Comey’s book, “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership” is already looking like a best-seller, with publisher Macmillan ordering an initial print run of 850,000 copies, more than five times the 150,000 in the initial pressing for Michael Wolff’s “Fire and Fury.” Comey’s book deal sparked a bidding war among publishers and, although financial terms weren’t disclosed, Comey reportedly earned in excess of $2 million on the deal.

And that’s before royalties start rolling in, which could greatly exceed the advance if sales are as high as expected. Although the details of Comey’s contract with Macmillan aren’t public, most book contracts will give an advance against royalties and then pay a set percentage of the book’s list price outlined in the contract. Considering Macmillan estimates that more than 2 million copies have already been sold across all formats, Comey could be looking at additional millions in the coming months if sales continue at such a high pace.

So, assuming that Comey didn’t lose any substantial portion of the $11 million he had in 2013 — though he did reportedly take a $500,000 loss on the sale of his Connecticut home last year — his payout from Bridgewater Associates and his advance on “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership” alone would put his net worth at around $15.5 million with the potential to increase that even more if his book stays atop the best-seller list for long".

https://www.gobankingrates.com.....orth/

Ok, so now Im very unimpressed with Comey for being petty and silly and saying and doing whatever it takes and whatever publishers are telling him to do to sell more books, but Im impressed with Comey mainly, for having 15 million dollars, and never getting into any scandals with women. Lots of women are after men with that kind of money, and it seems he remains faithful.

shiaeisen

Wed, Apr 18 2018, 1:15 pm

Mevater wrote:

So all his other crimes and missteps (to put it kindly) are irrelevant because he supposed,y hasn’t cheated on his wife?! Huh?!

marina

Wed, Apr 18 2018, 1:29 pm

shiaeisen wrote:

The fact that he lowered himself with his personal insults against the president’s hair, hands, demeanor, the fact that he’s supposedly like a mafia boss, etc., all prove he’s got a personal gripe (no wonder! He got fired!) and he’s on the offensive because he knows he’s guilty of crimes, makes everything he says now irrelevant and dishonest.

He's not guilty of any crimes. What are you talking about?

The personal insults were beneath him, that's true. But plse remember that Trump fired Comey for not dropping the Russia investigation. WHICH IS CRAZY.

Miri7

Wed, Apr 18 2018, 1:30 pm

My overall impression of Comey is that he does have a lot of integrity. In my opinion he made some major mistakes as FBI Director but I do believe he thought he was doing the right thing.

He admitted in his interviews that a reasonable person could have made different choices.

I also think it’s fair for him to give his opinion about Trumps leadership as performance as president. It’s also fair to give personal impressions when meeting him “he appeared shorter than I expected”. People often remark on leaders’ presence or physical bearing and how it may differ from what’s expected.

However, the comments about the orange skin, bags under his eyes detract from the image of himself that he is trying to promote. I would have advised him to omit these petty parts and focus on the story and his real criticism of the current presidency.

SixOfWands

Wed, Apr 18 2018, 1:32 pm

shiaeisen wrote:

So, Trump has referred to Comey as a "slimeball" "slippery" "out of whack" and "not smart." Can we assume that you believe hat he lowered himself , proved that he has a personal gripe, and knows that he's guilty of a crime, making everything that he says now irrelevant and dishonest?

Or does that only apply to Comey.

BTW, listen to what Comey actually said in his crime boss comparison, not sound bytes. It was actually quite interesting, astute and almost certainly true.

anon for this

Wed, Apr 18 2018, 1:50 pm

Deep wrote:

Has anyone read the book yet? I was disappointed by the excerpts insulting Trump's appearance, but they are likely a tiny part of a much larger story. In his appearance on The View this morning, Comey explains that he used similar descriptions about others throughout the book in order "to bring the reader into the room" with him. He also said that if given the chance, he would rip out that passage because it is distracting from the more important conversations we should be having. The interview is worth watching. The hosts asked some tough questions.

I didn't watch that interview, but I listened to part of his interview with Terry Gross. She asked him about how the language he used in the book was different from what he used as FBI director, and he replied that he was trying to make readers feel like they were there. So maybe those descriptions were part of that? I was also disappointed by those excerpts, because that's hardly the point.

I'm not planning to buy the book, so probably won't read it until my hold at the library comes through.

Fox

Wed, Apr 18 2018, 3:47 pm

marina wrote:

He's not guilty of any crimes. What are you talking about?

I presume everyone is referring to the accusations made by Andrew McCabe regarding leaks to the media. Comey had said under oath that he'd never shared information with the media nor authorized others to do so. After his firing, McCabe claimed that the leaks he was being fired for had, in fact, been made with the consent of Comey. So, in theory, if McCabe is telling the truth, Comey would be guilty of perjury.

But, seriously. That's like going over to the condensed milk thread and interrogating you about whether you actually made brownies back in 2010 or if you actually ended up givng one can of condensed milk to your neighbor, who may have used it to make caramel. Whatever. It's gone or expired by now.

As you mentioned earlier, Comey literally ran out of friends in Washington. First the Democrats wanted his scalp. Then the Republicans got mad at him. And the rank-and-file FBI agents had no great love for him.

Basically, everyone in the Beltway thought the election was a done deal. I've forgotten who said it, but the comment was that everyone had started "measuring for drapes" several months before the election, so sure were they of their secure roles in a Clinton administration. This was true not just among Democrats, but everyone else, too. Republicans and conservative media were settling down to drink tea, pet their cats, and kvetch for 4-8 years.

So now the more prominent drape-measurers, like Comey, are trying to come out of this without looking completely craven. Conservatives of various stripes, too, have had to do some quick footwork. Those who'd allied themselves with the NeverTrumpers are still in the process of walking it back, some more successfully than others.

SixOfWands

Wed, Apr 18 2018, 4:10 pm

Fox wrote:

Please provide a source for that. Every report I've seen -- other than Trump's tweets -- reports that McCabe never claimed that the leaks were made with Comey's knowledge. The sole question is what happened afterwards. McCabe claims that he told Comey that he had authorized the leak and Comey “did not react negatively, just kind of accepted it.” But Comey says McCabe “definitely did not tell me that he authorized” the disclosure of the DOJ call and, in fact, gave the opposite impression by complaining about the leak. “I have a strong impression he conveyed to me, ‘It wasn’t me, boss,’ ” he recalled. Indeed, he added, “I actually didn’t suspect Andy.” The DOJ report credited Comey's version.

Comey also requested that the IG look into the leak. Why on earth would he do that if he authorized it?

Fox wrote:

So now the more prominent drape-measurers, like Comey, are trying to come out of this without looking completely craven. Conservatives of various stripes, too, have had to do some quick footwork. Those who'd allied themselves with the NeverTrumpers are still in the process of walking it back, some more successfully than others.

I'm trying to figure out what this has to do with anything. Nevertheless, there's no question that Comey thought Clinton had the election in the bag. There's also no question that's why he released information about re-opening the email investigation, without at the same time revealing any information about the Russian probe. Did that give the election to Trump? Kellyanne Conway certainly thinks so, and I doubt she'd say it if it wasn't official Trump Doctrine.

Fox

Wed, Apr 18 2018, 4:45 pm

SixOfWands wrote:

Please provide a source for that. Every report I've seen -- other than Trump's tweets -- reports that McCabe never claimed that the leaks were made with Comey's knowledge.

This is from McCabe's post-firing statement:

Quote:

The OIG investigation has focused on information I chose to share with a reporter through my public affairs officer and a legal counselor. As Deputy Director, I was one of only a few people who had the authority to do that. It was not a secret, it took place over several days, and others, including the Director, were aware of the interaction with the reporter.

SixOfWands wrote:

I'm trying to figure out what this has to do with anything.

It simply speaks to everyone's motivation and the real concern, which is the degree to which FBI and DOJ actions seem to be politicized. Here's a quote from Comey's book:

Quote:

It is entirely possible that, because I was making decisions in an environment where Hillary Clinton was sure to be the next president, my concern about making her an illegitimate president by concealing the restarted investigation bore greater weight than it would have if the election appeared closer or if Donald Trump were ahead in all polls.

Kellyanne Conway aside, I have my doubts as to whether any single incident swayed the election. For a variety of reasons, people in a bunch of electorally-significant states found Clinton to be even more unlikeable than Trump. And as Chuck Schumer subsequently pointed out, that takes a bit of doing. I don't think Comey's actions altered that one way or the other.

shiaeisen

Wed, Apr 18 2018, 6:42 pm

Deep wrote:

The hosts asked tough questions?!?! Lol! The only 9ne who challenged him in the least was McCain, the only honest and reasonable one in the bunch. The others, bleeding heart liberals, fawned all over him. Pathetic.