James Comey
James Brien Comey Jr. is an American lawyer who was the seventh director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 2013 until his termination in May 2017.
During the presidential administration of George W. Bush, Comey was the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York from January 2002 to December 2003 and later the United States deputy attorney general from December 2003 to August 2005. In August 2005, Comey left the U.S. Department of Justice to become a senior vice president of Lockheed Martin as general counsel. In 2010, he became general counsel at Bridgewater Associates. In early 2013, he left Bridgewater to become a senior research scholar and Hertog fellow on national security law at Columbia Law School. He served on the board of directors of HSBC Holdings until July 2013.
In September 2013, Barack Obama appointed Comey to the position of Director of the FBI. During his tenure, Comey oversaw the FBI's investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server for official communications while serving as Secretary of State, some of which contained information later determined to be classified. His handling of the investigation, particularly his public statements and decision to reopen the investigation shortly before the 2016 U.S. presidential election, became a major source of controversy. On June 14, 2018, DOJ Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz released his report on the FBI's handling of the Clinton email investigation, which criticized Comey's actions during the 2016 election.
On May 9, 2017, Comey was fired by Donald Trump upon recommendation of the Department of Justice, which stated that Comey had mishandled the Clinton email investigation. Statements from Trump and the White House suggested that Comey had also been fired to ease the "pressure" Trump was under due to the Mueller investigation. Later that month, Comey allegedly arranged for a friend to leak to the press a memo he had written after a private meeting with the president; Comey denies wrongdoing. The memo said Trump had asked him to end the FBI's investigation into Michael Flynn, the former national security advisor. The dismissal, various memos detailing meetings with Trump, and Comey's subsequent Congressional testimony in June that same year were interpreted by some commentators as evidence of obstruction of justice on Trump's part and became part of the Mueller investigation. Horowitz found that Comey violated FBI policy with the leaked memos but saw no evidence he or his lawyers shared classified information, so the Department of Justice declined to prosecute him. In August 2019, the Office of the Inspector General found Comey's retention, handling, and dissemination of the memos violated DOJ policies, FBI policies, and his FBI employment agreement. In December 2019, Horowitz released a report finding no political bias against Trump by Comey or other FBI officials in their Russia probe, although other DOJ officials criticized that conclusion.
In September 2025, Comey was indicted by a federal grand jury on one charge of making false statements and one charge of obstruction. He pleaded not guilty. On November 24, 2025, the case was dismissed by a federal judge.
Early life
Comey was born in Yonkers, New York, on December 14, 1960, to parents Joan Marie and J. Brien Comey. His grandfather, William J. Comey, was an officer and later commissioner of the Yonkers Police Department. The family moved to Allendale, New Jersey, in the early 1970s. His father worked in corporate real estate and his mother was a computer consultant and homemaker. Comey is of Irish heritage. He attended Northern Highlands Regional High School in Allendale. In 1977, he and his brother were victims of a home invasion by a criminal called "The Ramsey Rapist". Comey graduated with honors from the College of William and Mary in 1982, majoring in chemistry and religion. In his senior thesis, Comey analyzed the theologian Reinhold Niebuhr and the televangelist Jerry Falwell, emphasizing their common belief in public action. He received his J.D. degree from the University of Chicago Law School in 1985.Early career (1985–1993)
After law school, Comey worked as a law clerk for then-United States district judge John M. Walker Jr. in Manhattan. Then, he worked as an associate for Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in their New York office. He joined the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, where he worked from 1987 to 1993. While there, he was Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division and helped prosecute the Gambino crime family.Clinton administration (1996–2001)
Assistant U.S. attorney
From 1996 to 2001, Comey was Managing Assistant U.S. Attorney in charge of the Richmond Division of the United States attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. In 1996, Comey acted as deputy special counsel to the Senate Whitewater Committee. He also was the lead prosecutor in the case concerning the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia. While in Richmond, Comey was an adjunct professor of law at the University of Richmond School of Law.Bush administration (2002–2005)
U.S. attorney
Comey was the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, from January 2002 to the time of his confirmation as Deputy Attorney General on December 11, 2003. Among his first tasks was to take over the investigation into President Bill Clinton's controversial pardon of Marc Rich, which Comey concluded involved no illegality. In November 2002, he led the prosecution of three men involved in one of the largest identity fraud cases in American history. The fraud had lasted two years and resulted in thousands of people across the country collectively losing over $3 million. He also led the indictment of Adelphia Communications founder John Rigas for bank fraud, wire fraud, and securities fraud. Rigas was convicted of the charges in 2004 and in 2005, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison. Adelphia Corporation was forced to file for bankruptcy after it acknowledged that it took $3.3 billion in false loans. It was "one of the most elaborate and extensive corporate frauds in United States history".In February 2003, Comey was the lead prosecutor of Martha Stewart, who was indicted on the charges of securities fraud, obstruction of justice, and lying to an FBI agent. She sold 3,928 shares of ImClone Systems, thereby avoiding a loss of $45,673. The next day, the Food and Drug Administration refused to accept the company's application for Erbitux. In March 2003, he led the indictment of ImClone CEO Samuel Waksal, who pleaded guilty for avoiding paying $1.2 million in sales taxes on $15 million worth of contemporary paintings. The works were by Mark Rothko, Richard Serra, Roy Lichtenstein, and Willem de Kooning. In April 2003, he led the indictment of Frank Quattrone, who allegedly urged subordinates in 2000 to destroy evidence sought by investigators looking into his investment banking practices at Credit Suisse First Boston. In June 2003, he revealed "Operation Project Meltdown", which started in January 1999 by the El Dorado Task Force, that found a money laundering scheme avoiding suspicious activity reports from banks in which very large amounts of both gold and diamonds from West 47th Street jewelers in New York City were shipped to Colombia as profits of a Colombian narcotics cartel. This resulted in the arrests of eleven jewelry dealers and others including Luis Kuichis, owner of Alberto Jewelry, Jaime Ross, owner of Ross Refiners of 47 West 47th Street, and a father and son Roman and Eduard Nektakov, respectively, who are from Uzbekistan and immigrated to New York City in 1972 settling in Forest Hills and establishing Roman Jewelers in 1974 on West 47th Street. In November 2003, he led the prosecutions in "Operation Wooden Nickel", which resulted in complaints and indictments against 47 people involved in foreign exchange trading scams.
Deputy Attorney General (2003–2005)
Plame affair
Comey appointed Patrick Fitzgerald to be the special counsel to head the grand jury investigation into the Plame affair after Attorney General John Ashcroft recused himself.NSA domestic wiretapping
In early January 2006, The New York Times, as part of its investigation into the Bush administration's warrantless domestic surveillance program, reported on an incident in which Comey and other Justice Department officials refused to certify the legality of central aspects of the National Security Agency program. The DOJ had issued a finding that the domestic wiretapping under the Terrorist Surveillance Program was unconstitutional if such were done without a court warrant. Under White House procedures, DOJ approval was required in order for the program to be renewed. In early March 2004, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III and Comey had prepared their resignations if the White House overruled the DOJ's finding that the program was unconstitutional.On March 10, 2004, while the issue was still pending, United States Attorney General John Ashcroft was recovering in the intensive care unit at the George Washington University Hospital after gall bladder surgery. His wife was with him. He had recused himself from any Justice Department decisions while recovering, designating Comey as acting attorney general. In his hospital room he was visited by White House officials Alberto Gonzales and Andrew Card, who pressured him to sign papers reauthorizing the domestic surveillance program. Alarmed by the situation, his wife called for Comey to join them, and he summoned FBI Director Mueller and two other DOJ officials, Jack Goldsmith and Patrick Philbin. None of the four would agree to reauthorize the program, and Ashcroft refused to take any action while he was recused. In Goldsmith's 2007 memoir, he said Comey had come to the hospital to support Ashcroft in withstanding pressure from the White House. Comey later confirmed these events took place in testimony to the United States Senate Judiciary Committee on May 16, 2007. Mueller's notes on the March 10, 2004, incident, which were released to a House Judiciary committee, confirm that he "Saw AG, John Ashcroft in the room feeble, barely articulate, clearly stressed."
Comey and Mueller cancelled their plans to resign after meeting on March 12, 2004, directly with President Bush, who directed that requisite changes be made to the surveillance program.