Blog/ James Comey: A” Leaker” with a Higher Loyalty

You can read this on the website of the Central Intelligence Agency by John Ehrman and posted in 2011.

“Officers new to counterintelligence (CI) and overwhelmed by the scope of what they need to learn often ask the same question: “Where do I start?” The best place might be the Dreyfus affair.”

James Comey is a national hero. He was not a POW or Prisoner of War like Senator John Mc Cain who Donald Trump in the 2016 Campaign said was not a hero. Comey did not fight to save lives during 9-11 as firemen and police did. And nobody’s tweet should deflect the truth.

In a previous job in New York City, Comey was assigned to interrogate top level Mafia leaders who were killing people and the work was dangerous. Tweeting from the Oval Office can be dangerous, but it has not produced that kind of danger. Comey interrogated Sammy the Bull Gravano (19 murders committed) of La Cosa Nostra 101 and Sicilian Mafia killer Francesco Marino Mannoia (22 murders committed) and some other murders that they may not have been able to recall. This information, without the mention of the presidential tweets, can be found in A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership. And Comey’s great work took dangerous people off the streets in the United States.

According to Donald Trump, Comey is a “leaker” and a “liar.” Trump called for Comey’s prosecution as well. Donald Trump has signed a bill permitting whistleblowing at the federal level, but only for the Veterans Administration. Congressman Tom Suozzi of New York told me that he voted against the bill, because he feels that whistleblowing should be a standard practice in every agency of government. In other words, both Comey and Suozzi are on the same page about a “Higher Loyalty.” Trump’s loyalty is like a limited warranty that people find out is almost useless. Should a person expose the president? Yes!

During the Campaign of 2016, I wrote in my book that we were repeating what took place during the Dreyfus Affair. I do not have to go into some of the key things right here, but in France in the 1890s someone had to expose the French Army staff for scheming to frame, court martial and, convict Alfred Dreyfus. Information was finally leaked and that resulted in a new trial and finally a favorable outcome for Dreyfus. The information had to be taken to the French president and the military was denounced. There was an imprisonment and suicide and one of the main culprits fled the country.
Here in the United States, we have a president taking his case constantly to the people as part of the deflection of truth. We need good whistleblowers everywhere and we welcome leaks that hold up as fair and accurate information for the people. Partisanship does make things worse as people follow, but this is truly all about a “Higher Loyalty.” And Emile Zolá was branded a liar as he lost a libel case for defending Dreyfus and then Zolá fled France to go to London.

There is an investigation going on and the truth must come out, especially since Donald Trump is usually not telling the truth. Senator Susan Collins, Republican from Maine, slammed Comey for releasing his book and leaking documents to a friend to be released to the press. She is concerned about the investigation that has not been completed. The military in the Dreyfus Affair held its investigation and it convinced much of the country that it was truthful and it was not. Sound familiar?

Rudy Giuliani was James Comey’s boss in New York City, where they were both involved in fighting crime (violent and other). Giuliani has just joined the Trump team, supposedly to bring about an early end to Mueller investigation. Two men who were colleagues seem to be at odds with each other and hopefully when Giuliani makes statements about the investigation, Comey, I hope, should be asked for his views in the matter. In my last article, Chris Mancini, a former federal prosecutor, was critical of Alan Dershowitz who has a great reputation in law. It is important to be balanced when speaking on television.

James Comey cites that he wrote up the details of conversations that he had had with Donald Trump and later referred to those memos. Anyone who has seen police in action i.e. in court discussing a summons or doing police work that calls for referring to what happened knows that it is important to do. In the case of the “shithole” countries controversy, I only read that people at the meeting where Trump spoke out only recalled what happened and nobody seemed to write down Trump’s comments. That was minor compared to Trump asking for loyalty and asking that the Michael Flynn case to be dropped. Anecdotal records are part and parcel of the job, just as tweets are part of this peculiar presidency.

Then there was a Fox News interview where one of the guests, Joe DiGenova, told about speaking to people he knew well at the F.B.I., people who told him that they were upset at Comey. Alan Dershowitz chimed in about how the F.B.I. had protected him very well in a case and he emphasized how nice those agents were. The Fox presentation about Comey should be considered with the body of evidence that I have presented. Even a couple of people in the F.B.I. could and should give it a bad name.

That is what investigations are about. It appeared to me that Dershowitz fell into that trap unnecessarily. Whether we talk about Alfred Dreyfus and the Affair or the Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, people mess and up and there are consequences. The truth must come out and there should never be a coverup. Hannity talked about the great work that the F.B.I. does, putting its members lives on the line. Dershowitz added about being a member of the Police Athletic League as a youngster after revealing that he had been threatened by a neo-Nazi who was in prison. He believes that we must commend the F.B.I. and we owe them so much. I disagree because it leaves out some or much of the truth.

James Comey said that it was “possible” that the Russians have something on Donald Trump based on two things: Trump keeps bringing up the matter and Trump has not criticized Putin, even in private. Based on his experience, he has seen a pattern where people have something to hide keep bringing it up. That is Donald Trump and the way he behaves.