Barack Obama Reasured Comey While He Was Still President

While Barack Obama was still president, he apparently reassured then FBI Director James Comey of his support after the 2016 election during a private meeting in the Oval Office. Comey writes about this reassurance in his upcoming book, according to The Washington Post. 

Comey remembers that during the meeting in late November of 2016, Obama said to him, “I picked you to be FBI director because of your integrity and your ability. I want you to know that nothing — nothing — has happened in the last year to change my view,” the Post reports.

Comey has taken significant criticism for the way he handled Hillary Clinton’s email server investigation. He announced just before the presidential election that the FBI was reopening the investigation. In the days just prior to the nation’s vote, Comey announced that there were no new developments. Clinton maintains that Comey’s actions contributed to her loss. 

“He, I think, forever changed history,” Hillary Clinton said about the former FBI Director in an interview CNN’s Anderson Cooper in September of 2017. 

And The New York Times reported that Comey writes in his book that his handling of the email probe could have been affected by the general assumption that Hillary would win the election. 

“It is entirely possible,” Comey writes that “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. But I don’t know,” according to The Times. 

Comey’s new book about to be released next week is titled: “A Higher Loyalty.”

Those committed to the president’s agenda are getting ready for an extensive campaign to undermine Comey’s credibility as he prepares for his book tour, CNN reported on Thursday. The plan, obtained by CNN, calls for referring to Comey as “Lyin’ Comey” through several media outlets and talking points by Republicans across the nation. The White House allegedly signed off on the plan that will be overseen by the Republican National Committee.