Former FBI Director James Comey provoked a wave of mockery after revealing in a recent video that he listens to pop star Taylor Swift while &#8220;cutting the grass&#8221; and, occasionally, to cope with the fact that President Donald Trump still exists.
In a video shared via Substack, Comey first announced that he&#8217;d just recovered from a bout of COVID — &#8220;quite a flashback&#8221; — and complained about the fact that Trump is president before pivoting to talk about a &#8220;truly inspirational public figure.&#8221;
That public figure, of course, was Swift — and Comey, in addition to keeping the pop star&#8217;s music cued up on his headphones, admitted to being part of a family text group solely for Swifties.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
It’s good for Americans to see stuff like this as a reminder that the heads of powerful government agencies, including the FBI, are generally not impressive people at all, and in cases like Comey, are actually world class losers 
<a href="https://t.co/dudUOK1RsD">pic.twitter.com/dudUOK1RsD</a>
— Buck Sexton (@BuckSexton) <a href="https://twitter.com/BuckSexton/status/1957275791642784132?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Taylor Swift has grown up with my family and provided us a soundtrack, really, as we&#8217;ve grown ourselves and learned and adapted and dealt with adversity and celebration,&#8221; Comey claimed, going on to add that Swift herself had set an example he tried to follow when he resisted the temptation to engage with bullies on social media.
Comey, who recently caught a wave of backlash for a post that was interpreted by many as wishing death on President Trump, said that Swift inspired him to be less &#8220;like Trump and his followers&#8221; — by which he meant less like the &#8220;mean jerks&#8221; out there — and said that even satirical posts that he found &#8220;funny&#8221; could also be a bit troubling.
&#8220;But I gotta be honest, it also leaves me with a strange feeling at times, because I don&#8217;t want us to become like Trump and his followers. There are far more decent, honest, kind people in America than there are mean jerks. And don&#8217;t get me wrong, we have our jerks, millions of them.&#8221;
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=summer&amp;utm_content=editorialsummersale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">End of Summer Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
&#8220;Of course, we need to stand up to jerks and defend what matters, but I think we have to try to do that without becoming like them, which is what makes me think about Taylor Swift,&#8221; he said. &#8220;She&#8217;s made clear that she sees Donald Trump for what he is. Last year, she urged Americans not to make the serious mistake of electing him. Of course, we&#8217;re now living with the consequences of that mistake. But while our elderly makeup-covered president is posting about whether Taylor Swift is still hot and declaring that he can&#8217;t stand her, what&#8217;s she doing? Living her best life, producing great music and, as she urged all of us to do during the podcast, not giving the jerks power over her mind.&#8221;
Critics were quick to mock Comey once the video began to make the rounds on social media.
&#8220;James Comey is a 64 year old man, and he just put out a video saying that listening to Taylor Swift helps him deal with another man. This is now confirmation that Trump Derangement Syndrome is the worst and funniest mental disorder on planet Earth,&#8221; James Langman posted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
James Comey is a 64 year old man, and he just put out a video saying that listening to Taylor Swift helps him deal with another man.
This is now confirmation that Trump Derangement Syndrome is the worst and funniest mental disorder on planet Earth 😂 <a href="https://t.co/HfEAq1s95y">pic.twitter.com/HfEAq1s95y</a>
— Vince Langman (@LangmanVince) <a href="https://twitter.com/LangmanVince/status/1957231866336964783?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The &#8220;Ruthless&#8221; Podcast hosts weighed in on Comey as well, saying, &#8220;It all started when he became famous for trying to take down Martha Stewart, and he never stopped that appetite for publicity.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
&#8220;It all started when he became famous for trying to take down Martha Stewart, and he never stopped that appetite for publicity.&#8221;<a href="https://twitter.com/JohnAshbrook?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JohnAshbrook</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/MichaelDuncan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MichaelDuncan</a> talk about the latest Swiftie: James Comey. Watch the fellas cover this bizarre story with <a href="https://twitter.com/DanaPerino?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DanaPerino</a> &amp;… <a href="https://t.co/SVvPcmhCzW">pic.twitter.com/SVvPcmhCzW</a>
— Ruthless Podcast (@RuthlessPodcast) <a href="https://twitter.com/RuthlessPodcast/status/1957584454202851611?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;I will repeat what I have said many times: there is something fundamentally off about Comey,&#8221; Jerry Dunleavy added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I will repeat what I have said many times: there is something fundamentally off about Comey.<a href="https://t.co/ax9ZRKkw8b">pic.twitter.com/ax9ZRKkw8b</a>
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) <a href="https://twitter.com/JerryDunleavy/status/1957177349423644902?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 17, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;They said it couldn’t be done. They said the celebrities singing Imagine was the summit of second-hand embarrassment. And if not that then definitely the Binder Brigade,&#8221; another posted. &#8220;But then Jim Comey came along and said hold my beer, I’m gonna talk about Taylor Swift.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
They said it couldn’t be done. They said the celebrities singing Imagine was the summit of second-hand embarrassment. And if not that then definitely the Binder Brigade
But then Jim Comey came along and said hold my beer, I’m gonna talk about Taylor Swift <a href="https://t.co/Qv99pHPzyS">pic.twitter.com/Qv99pHPzyS</a>
— Three Year Letterman (@3YearLetterman) <a href="https://twitter.com/3YearLetterman/status/1957175278897119591?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 17, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

FBI Director Comey Discusses Counterterrorism And Cybersecurity At DC Dinner

Jim Comey Says He Listens To Taylor Swift To Help Him Cope With Trump’s Existence

Jim Comey Says He Listens To Taylor Swift To Help Him Cope With Trump's Existence

Donald Trump

James Comey

Media

Politics

Taylor Swift

A newly declassified document from former Special Counsel John Durham&#8217;s report suggests the Obama-era FBI ignored intelligence that indicated Hillary Clinton&#8217;s campaign or Russian disinformation fueled allegations of collusion between President Donald Trump&#8217;s 2016 campaign and Russia.
The disclosure of the <a href="https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/declassified_durham_annex_released_by_chairman_grassley.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">annex</a>, which still has some redactions, comes more than two years after Durham completed his investigation and heavily criticized the FBI&#8217;s Crossfire Hurricane probe into alleged links between Trump&#8217;s campaign and Russia. Trump&#8217;s second administration declassified the section as the president and members of his team <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/time-to-go-after-people-trump-wants-severe-consequences-for-dems-who-pushed-russia-hoax" target="_blank" rel="noopener">demanded accountability</a> for what they deemed to be a Russia collusion hoax.
One key section of the classified addendum to the Durham Report says the &#8220;FBI was fully alerted to the possibility that at least some of the information it was receiving about the Trump campaign might have its origin either with the Clinton campaign or its supporters, or alternatively, was the product of Russian disinformation. Despite this awareness, the FBI appears to have dismissed the [intelligence information] as not credible without any investigative steps actually having been taken to either corroborate or disprove the allegations.&#8221;
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who is chairman of the Judiciary Committee and a lead Russiagate investigator who pushed for the declassification of the annex, released the document on Thursday.
&#8220;Based on the Durham annex, the Obama FBI failed to adequately review and investigate intelligence reports showing the Clinton campaign may have been ginning up the fake Trump-Russia narrative for Clinton&#8217;s political gain, which was ultimately done through the Steele Dossier and other means,&#8221; Grassley said in a statement. &#8220;These intelligence reports and related records, whether true or false, were buried for years. History will show that the Obama and Biden administrations&#8217; law enforcement and intelligence agencies were weaponized against President Trump. This political weaponization has caused critical damage to our institutions and is one of the biggest political scandals and cover-ups in American history. The new Trump administration has a tremendous responsibility to the American people to fix the damage done and do so with maximum speed and transparency.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hillary-clinton-greenlit-russia-hoax-to-hide-email-scandal-declassified-docs-reveal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Hillary Clinton Greenlit Russia Hoax To Hide Email Scandal, Declassified Docs Reveal</a>
In 2020, when he served as director of national intelligence, now-CIA Director John Ratcliffe <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-feds-referred-hillary-to-fbi-for-probe-after-allegedly-approving-plan-to-create-trump-russia-scandal-to-distract-from-email-scandal-odni-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">unveiled</a> documents that showed federal officials referred Clinton to the FBI for investigation after obtaining &#8220;insight&#8221; into a Russian intelligence analysis that alleged she approved a campaign plan to link Trump to Russia&#8217;s hacking operations to distract from the controversy over her unauthorized use of a private email server while serving as secretary of state.
The annex in Durham&#8217;s report says FBI personnel, including then-Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, shared the intelligence regarding the potential Clinton campaign plan with high-ranking career officials at Department of Justice on March 31, 2016, and affirms that &#8220;multiple high-ranking&#8221; U.S. officials were apprised of the situation, including an August 3, 2016, briefing in the White House by CIA Director John Brennan to President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, FBI Director Comey, among others. It says notes from Brennan show the CIA sent an investigative referral to the FBI in September of 2016 that included the &#8220;purported Clinton campaign plan.&#8221;
One of the most heavily redacted parts of the annex says the CIA prepared a written assessment in 2017 on the &#8220;authenticity and veracity&#8221; of the intelligence described in the referral memo. &#8220;The CIA stated that it did not assess that the above [redacted] memoranda, or [redacted] hacked U.S. communications, to be the product of Russian fabrications,&#8221; it adds.
Durham <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/john-durham-affirms-crossfire-hurricane-investigators-kept-in-dark-about-alleged-clinton-plan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">testified</a> to Congress in 2023 that agents on the FBI&#8217;s Crossfire Hurricane team were not made aware of the intelligence, and his report indicated the &#8220;Clinton Plan intelligence&#8221; could have been helpful to them. The report pointed to British ex-spy Christopher Steele&#8217;s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/01/us/trump-russia-investigation-dossier.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">now-discredited</a> anti-Trump dossier, stemming from research funded by Clinton&#8217;s campaign and the Democratic National Committee, that the FBI was <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/doj-inspector-general-finds-17-significant-errors-or-omissions-in-carter-page-fisa-applications" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> to have improperly used to secure FISA surveillance warrants against onetime Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. It also referenced the unfounded secret <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/durham-finds-researcher-felt-threatened-by-schiff-staffer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">backchannel</a> between the Trump Organization and Russia&#8217;s Alfa Bank that Clinton and her team <a href="https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/793250312119263233">promoted</a> in the run-up to the 2016 election.
&#8220;Whether or not the Clinton Plan intelligence was based on reliable or unreliable information, or was ultimately true or false, it should have prompted FBI personnel to immediately undertake an analysis of the information and to act with far greater care and caution when receiving, analyzing, and relying upon materials of partisan origins, such as the Steele Reports and the Alfa Bank allegations,&#8221; Durham&#8217;s report said. &#8220;The FBI also should have disseminated the Clinton Plan intelligence more widely among those responsible for the Crossfire Hurricane investigation so that they could effectively incorporate it into their analysis and decision-making, and their representations to the OI attorneys and, ultimately, the [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court].&#8221;
During an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cia-director-says-classified-docs-will-blow-lid-off-russiagate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview</a> on Fox News over the weekend, Ratcliffe told &#8220;Sunday Morning Futures&#8221; host Maria Bartiromo that he had been working to secure the release of a classified section from Durham&#8217;s <a href="https://www.justice.gov/archives/media/1381211/dl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a>.
&#8220;What hasn&#8217;t come out yet and what&#8217;s going to come out is the underlying intelligence that I have spent the last few months making recommendations about final declassification and sent that to the Department of Justice,&#8221; he said. &#8220;That will come out in the John Durham report classified annex. And what that intelligence shows, Maria, is that part of this was a Hillary Clinton plan, but part of it was an FBI plan to be an accelerant to that fake Steele dossier, to those fake Russia collusion claims by pouring oil on the fire, by amplifying the lie and burying the truth of what Hillary Clinton was up to.&#8221;
Ratcliffe went on to explain that &#8220;much of&#8221; the testimony that Clinton, former FBI Director James Comey, and Brennan provided to Durham or Congress in the past five years &#8220;is, frankly, completely inconsistent with what our underlying intelligence that is about to be declassified in the Durham annex, what that reflects.&#8221;
Acknowledging how Attorney General Pam Bondi has a new &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/justice-department-to-form-strike-force-to-assess-weaponization-of-intel-community" target="_blank" rel="noopener">strike force</a>&#8221; tasked with evaluating the evidence relating the Obama administration&#8217;s efforts to drive the Russia collusion allegations, the CIA director added, &#8220;It is a different Department of Justice, a different FBI, and an opportunity to look at how these people really did conspire to run a hoax, a fraud on the American people and against Donald Trump&#8217;s presidency.&#8221;
Comey <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spKHw3IFUVc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">testified</a> before the Senate in 2020, claiming, &#8220;In the main, it was done by the book, it was appropriate, and it was essential that it be done.&#8221; He also conceded there &#8220;were parts of it that were concerning.&#8221;
In an op-ed <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/30/opinion/trump-obama-treason-russia-miller.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published</a> by The New York Times this week, Brennan and Clapper made a brief mention of Durham as they pushed back on Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gabbard-obama-launched-years-long-coup-treasonous-conspiracy-against-american-people" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claim</a> that members of the Obama administration waged a &#8220;treasonous conspiracy&#8221; to undermine Trump.
&#8220;The special counsel John Durham, who was appointed during Mr. Trump&#8217;s first term to investigate how the Russia probe was conducted, similarly found no evidence of an Obama administration conspiracy against Mr. Trump,&#8221; they wrote. &#8220;But he affirmed the findings of the special counsel Robert Mueller, who conducted a separate investigation into the allegations, which found ample evidence of Russian interference in the election.&#8221;

John Durham

New Durham Bombshell: Obama-Era FBI Allowed Trump-Russia Hoax To Fester

Chuck Grassley

Congress

Hillary Clinton

John Brennan

Russia

Forthcoming revelations from former Special Counsel John Durham&#8217;s report will expose the Russiagate controversy, showing just what Hillary Clinton and the FBI did to leverage a Russia collusion narrative against President Donald Trump, CIA Director John Ratcliffe said on Sunday.
During an interview on Fox News, Ratcliffe told &#8220;Sunday Morning Futures&#8221; host Maria Bartiromo that he has been working to secure the release of a classified section from Durham&#8217;s <a href="https://www.justice.gov/archives/media/1381211/dl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from 2023 that heavily criticized the FBI&#8217;s Crossfire Hurricane investigation into alleged links between Trump&#8217;s campaign and Russia.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Today, exclusively on <a href="https://twitter.com/SundayFutures?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SundayFutures</a> with <a href="https://twitter.com/MariaBartiromo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MariaBartiromo</a>, CIA Director John Ratcliffe <a href="https://twitter.com/CIADirector?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CIADirector</a> spoke about the origins of the Russia Collusion narrative.<a href="https://twitter.com/FoxNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FoxNews</a> <a href="https://t.co/YYyWQnlwGO">pic.twitter.com/YYyWQnlwGO</a>
— SundayMorningFutures (@SundayFutures) <a href="https://twitter.com/SundayFutures/status/1949488131104801101?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 27, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;What hasn&#8217;t come out yet and what&#8217;s going to come out is the underlying intelligence that I have spent the last few months making recommendations about final declassification and sent that to the Department of Justice,&#8221; Ratcliffe said. &#8220;That will come out in the John Durham report classified annex. And what that intelligence shows, Maria, is that part of this was a Hillary Clinton plan, but part of it was an FBI plan to be an accelerant to that fake Steele dossier, to those fake Russia collusion claims by pouring oil on the fire, by amplifying the lie and burying the truth of what Hillary Clinton was up to.&#8221;
In 2020, when he served as director of national intelligence, Ratcliffe <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-feds-referred-hillary-to-fbi-for-probe-after-allegedly-approving-plan-to-create-trump-russia-scandal-to-distract-from-email-scandal-odni-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">unveiled</a> documents that showed federal officials referred Clinton to the FBI for investigation after obtaining &#8220;insight&#8221; into a Russian intelligence analysis that alleged she approved a campaign plan to link Trump to Russia&#8217;s hacking operations in order to distract from the controversy over her unauthorized use of a private email server while serving as secretary of state.
Durham <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/john-durham-affirms-crossfire-hurricane-investigators-kept-in-dark-about-alleged-clinton-plan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">testified</a> to Congress that members of the FBI&#8217;s Crossfire Hurricane team were not made aware of the intelligence and his report indicated the &#8220;Clinton Plan intelligence&#8221; could have been helpful to them. The report pointed to British ex-spy Christopher Steele&#8217;s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/01/us/trump-russia-investigation-dossier.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">now-discredited</a> anti-Trump dossier, stemming from research funded by Clinton&#8217;s campaign and the Democratic National Committee, that the FBI was <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/doj-inspector-general-finds-17-significant-errors-or-omissions-in-carter-page-fisa-applications" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> to have improperly used to secure FISA surveillance warrants against onetime Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. It also referenced the unfounded secret <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/durham-finds-researcher-felt-threatened-by-schiff-staffer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">backchannel</a> between the Trump Organization and Russia’s Alfa Bank that was <a href="https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/793250312119263233" target="_blank" rel="noopener">promoted</a> by Clinton and her team in the run-up to the 2016 election.
&#8220;Whether or not the Clinton Plan intelligence was based on reliable or unreliable information, or was ultimately true or false, it should have prompted FBI personnel to immediately undertake an analysis of the information and to act with far greater care and caution when receiving, analyzing, and relying upon materials of partisan origins, such as the Steele Reports and the Alfa Bank allegations,&#8221; Durham&#8217;s report said. &#8220;The FBI also should have disseminated the Clinton Plan intelligence more widely among those responsible for the Crossfire Hurricane investigation so that they could effectively incorporate it into their analysis and decision-making, and their representations to the OI attorneys and, ultimately, the [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court].&#8221;
The report said there was a classified appendix that provides further information about &#8220;details of the Clinton Plan intelligence,&#8221; &#8220;facts that heightened the potential relevance of this intelligence&#8221; to the Office of Special Counsel&#8217;s inquiry, and &#8220;the Office&#8217;s efforts to verify or refute the key claims found in this intelligence.&#8221;
Ratcliffe told Bartiromo &#8220;much of&#8221; the testimony that Clinton, former FBI Director James Comey, and former CIA Director John Brennan provided to Durham or Congress in the past five years &#8220;is, frankly, completely inconsistent with what our underlying intelligence that is about to be declassified in the Durham annex, what that reflects.&#8221; Acknowledging how Attorney General Pam Bondi has a new &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/justice-department-to-form-strike-force-to-assess-weaponization-of-intel-community" target="_blank" rel="noopener">strike force</a>&#8221; tasked with evaluating the evidence relating the Obama administration’s efforts to drive the Russia collusion allegations, he added, &#8220;It is a different Department of Justice, a different FBI, and an opportunity to look at how these people really did conspire to run a hoax, a fraud on the American people and against Donald Trump&#8217;s presidency.&#8221;

CIA Director John Ratcliffe

CIA Director Says Classified Docs Will Blow Lid Off Russiagate

Barack Obama

John Ratcliffe

U.S.

George Washington University Law Professor Jonathan Turley revealed who he believes is most vulnerable to prosecution over the Russian collusion hoax aimed at destroying President Donald Trump: former Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan.
Turley joined host Sandra Smith on &#8220;America Reports,&#8221; and she began by bringing up a conversation he&#8217;d had the day prior with former Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) – a conversation that centered around the idea that some of those involved in pushing the Russia collusion narrative had lied under oath about it and what steps the court might take to address that.
&#8220;I want to go back to our conversation yesterday on Tulsi Gabbard. She showed up at the White House press briefing yesterday. She shook things up, citing this new declassified intel that shows the Obama administration was politicizing intelligence,&#8221; Smith began. &#8220;Jason Chaffetz joined you and went off on this on America Reports yesterday.&#8221;
Smith then cut to Chaffetz who had said the day before, &#8220;Anytime I&#8217;ve ever heard of somebody lying to a court, the court takes care of itself. There&#8217;s there are repercussions to that. So when the when the government lies to the FISA court, where is Chief Justice Roberts on this? Where is the court? How come the court is not going back? I&#8217;m not an attorney. Jonathan Turley&#8217;s gonna have to take this. Why isn&#8217;t the court demanding that there are repercussions for those people that they bogusly signed these warrants?&#8221;
&#8220;And then we ran out of time and the show was over, so can we get your response, sir?&#8221; Smith asked Turley. &#8220;Where is the court on this?&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Turley: Brennan may be most vulnerable to charges:
&#8220;He’s like a 30 point buck out in the open.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/qUPkW36gal">pic.twitter.com/qUPkW36gal</a>
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) <a href="https://twitter.com/WesternLensman/status/1948473577071583406?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Well, Jason has a very good point here, and he&#8217;s walked the walk. He&#8217;s been there in Congress and trying to get this information. And it does appear that a couple of these figures may have committed perjury,&#8221; Turley agreed.
&#8220;I think the most vulnerable may be Brennan, who&#8217;s like a 30-point buck now out in the open. I mean, this stuff goes directly to information that he gave to Congress. It seems to be in contradiction. And so there are real questions here,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;I mean, people talk about, well, you can&#8217;t charge Obama. That&#8217;s very likely the case. He&#8217;s probably protected. But these individuals, whether it&#8217;s Comey or Brennan, are not protected from perjury charges if the statute of limitations has not run. They are more likely to be called again to repeat prior testimony.&#8221;

US-POLITICS-HEARING-POLICE

’30-Point Buck Out In The Open’: Jonathan Turley Reveals Who’s Vulnerable To Russiagate Prosecution

'30-Point Buck Out In The Open': Jonathan Turley Reveals Who's Vulnerable To Russiagate Prosecution

Jonathan Turley

Russia Collusion Hoax

Russiagate

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard declassified documents Friday revealing that the Obama administration changed intelligence assessments after the 2016 election to create a narrative of Russian interference, despite earlier intelligence community findings that Russia &#8220;did not impact&#8221; the election through cyber activities.
The intelligence community concluded before the election that Russia was &#8220;probably not trying … to influence the election by using cyber means,&#8221; according to the declassified records <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/obama-admin-manufactured-intelligence-create-2016-russian-election-interference-narrative-documents-show">obtained</a> by Fox News. However, following Trump’s unexpected victory over Hillary Clinton, their tone appeared to have changed.
“On Dec 8, 2016, IC officials prepared an assessment for the President&#8217;s Daily Brief, finding that Russia ‘did not impact recent U.S. election results’ by conducting cyber attacks on infrastructure,” Gabbard wrote in a thread on X. “Before it could reach the President, it was abruptly pulled ‘based on new guidance.’ This key intelligence assessment was never published.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
🧵 Americans will finally learn the truth about how in 2016, intelligence was politicized and weaponized by the most powerful people in the Obama Administration to lay the groundwork for what was essentially a years-long coup against President <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a>, subverting the… <a href="https://t.co/UQKKZ5c4Op">pic.twitter.com/UQKKZ5c4Op</a>
&mdash; DNI Tulsi Gabbard (@DNIGabbard) <a href="https://twitter.com/DNIGabbard/status/1946271402971312514?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The presidential brief prepared for President Obama on December 8, 2016, stated: &#8220;We assess that Russian and criminal actors did not impact recent US election results by conducting malicious cyber activities against election infrastructure,” noting that any Russian activities &#8220;probably were intended to cause psychological effects, such as undermining the credibility of the election process and candidates.&#8221;
The brief concluded that it was &#8220;highly unlikely&#8221; Russian interference &#8220;would have resulted in altering any state’s official vote result.&#8221;
&#8220;Criminal activity also failed to reach the scale and sophistication necessary to change election outcomes,&#8221; it stated.
The FBI raised immediate objections to the brief and requested that its publication be delayed until the bureau could address its concerns. Under then-Director James Comey, the FBI drafted a formal &#8220;dissent&#8221; to the original briefing.
Subsequently, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence postponed internal publication of the Presidential Daily Brief, citing &#8220;new guidance&#8221; as the reason for the delay.
Just one day later, on December 9, a meeting was called in the White House Situation Room to discuss Russian election interference with top officials, including then-CIA Director John Brennan, then-National Security Advisor Susan Rice, then-Secretary of State John Kerry, and then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
Following this meeting, then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper threw out the old analysis and tasked intelligence leaders with crafting a new assessment &#8220;per the president&#8217;s request,&#8221; detailing &#8220;tools Moscow used and actions it took to influence the 2016 election.&#8221;
Gabbard revealed: “According to whistleblower emails shared with us today, we know Clapper and Brennan used the baseless discredited Steele Dossier as a source to push this false narrative in the intelligence assessment.”
Intelligence sources told Fox News the new report “was based on information that was known by those involved to be manufactured i.e. the Steele Dossier or deemed as not credible,&#8221; and the CIA had previously dismissed it as filled with &#8220;internet rumor[s].&#8221;
By January 6, 2017, a new Intelligence Community Assessment was released that &#8220;directly contradicted the IC assessments that were made throughout the previous six months,&#8221; the ODNI office told Fox News.
Intelligence officials told Fox News they consider the assessment to have been blatantly &#8220;politicized&#8221; after it &#8220;suppressed intelligence from before and after the election showing Russia lacked intent and capability to hack the 2016 election.&#8221;
&#8220;The information we are releasing today clearly shows there was a treasonous conspiracy in 2016 committed by officials at the highest level of our government,&#8221; Gabbard told Fox News. &#8220;Their goal was to subvert the will of the American people and enact what was essentially a years-long coup with the objective of trying to usurp the President from fulfilling the mandate bestowed upon him by the American people.&#8221;
&#8220;No matter how powerful, every person involved in this conspiracy must be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, to ensure nothing like this ever happens again,&#8221; Gabbard said. &#8220;The American people’s faith and trust in our democratic republic and therefore the future of our nation depends on it.&#8221;
Gabbard concluded: &#8220;As such, I am providing all documents to the Department of Justice to deliver the accountability that President Trump, his family, and the American people deserve.&#8221;

US-POLITICS-SECURITY-INTELLIGENCE-FBI-OBAMA-COMEY

Obama Admin Suppressed Intel Showing Russia Didn’t Impact 2016 Election, Tulsi Reveals

2016 Election

Elections

National Intelligence

Steele Dossier

Trump Administration

Tulsi Gabbard

The Justice Department on Wednesday fired the lawyer who prosecuted the 2019 sex trafficking trial against Jeffrey Epstein amid controversy over the Trump administration’s refusal to release files related to the case.
Maurene Comey, the daughter of former FBI Director and Trump opponent James Comey, was fired from her position at the Justice Department’s office in Manhattan, according to multiple reports. Comey prosecuted Epstein during the first Trump administration before he was found dead in his jail cell.
No official reason was given for the firing, but The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/16/nyregion/maurene-comey-prosecutor-fired-jeffrey-epstein.html">reported</a> a letter sent to Comey from the Justice Department cited the president&#8217;s executive powers. Comey was <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/15/pam-bondi-jeffrey-epstein-maga-base-00455207">reportedly</a> against releasing files associated with the case, arguing the disclosure could interfere with the case of Epstein&#8217;s accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. Comey later worked on the prosecution of Maxwell, who was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jeffrey-epsteins-ex-girlfriend-ghislaine-maxwell-sentenced-to-prison">convicted</a> in December 2021 on sex trafficking and conspiracy charges. 
In July 2019, Comey and the DOJ <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/jeffrey-epstein-charged-manhattan-federal-court-sex-trafficking-minors">alleged</a> that Epstein “worked with several employees and associates” to sexually abuse dozens of underage girls from 2002 to 2005. 
“In creating and maintaining this network of minor victims in multiple states to abuse and exploit sexually, EPSTEIN worked with others, including employees and associates who facilitated his conduct by, among other things, contacting victims and scheduling their sexual encounters with EPSTEIN at the New York Residence and at the Palm Beach Residence,” the Justice Department said at the time. 
That case never went to trial after Epstein died in his Manhattan jail cell in August 2019. His death was officially ruled a suicide.
Her termination comes as the Trump administration has faced heavy scrutiny after a memo from the Justice Department said that it did not find evidence that Epstein had a client list or that powerful co-conspirators were involved in his child sex crimes. The DOJ also maintained that Epstein killed himself. 
Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-says-epstein-story-is-kept-alive-by-pretty-bad-people-including-fake-news?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=29&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Trump+Says+Epstein+Story+Is+Kept+Alive+By+%E2%80%98Pretty+Bad+People%2C+Including+Fake+News%E2%80%99">said</a> Wednesday that he didn’t understand why people were upset and lashed out at his &#8220;past supporters,&#8221; claiming that they are going along with &#8220;the Jeffrey Epstein hoax&#8221; pushed by Democrats and &#8220;have bought into this bulls*** hook, line, and sinker.&#8221; 
“I don’t understand it, why they would be so interested, he’s been dead for a long time,” Trump replied. “He was never a big factor in terms of life. I don’t understand what the interest or what the fascination is, I really don’t. The credible information has been given.”
He also likened the questions about the case to the Russian collusion hoax.
“Don’t forget, we went through years of the Mueller witch hunt and all of the different things, the Steele dossier, which was all fake. All that information was fake,” he added. “I don’t understand why the Jeffrey Epstein case would be of interest to anybody. It’s pretty boring stuff. It’s sordid, but it’s boring, and I don’t understand why it keeps going. I think really only pretty bad people, including fake news, want to keep something like that going.”
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-says-epstein-story-is-kept-alive-by-pretty-bad-people-including-fake-news">Trump Says Epstein Story Is Kept Alive By &#8216;Pretty Bad People, Including Fake News&#8217;</a>

The Metropolitan Correctional Center As Epstein Judge Sets Tentative Trial Date

Justice Dept Fires Epstein Prosecutor Maurene Comey, Daughter Of Anti-Trump FBI Director

Crime

Department of Justice

Ghislaine Maxwell

Jeffrey Epstein

Sex Trafficking

Former Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan is accusing President Donald Trump and his administration of &#8220;weaponizing&#8221; the intelligence community in their efforts to investigate his actions in 2016 — which, according to a recently published <a href="https://www.cia.gov/static/Tradecraft-Review-2016-ICA-on-Election-Interference-062625.pdf">CIA review</a>, amounted to him weaponizing the intelligence community against Trump.
CIA Director <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-doj-puts-brennan-and-comey-under-investigation-for-russiagate-report">John Ratcliffe</a> referred both Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey to the FBI for investigation and potential prosecution pursuant to their actions during the Trump-Russia investigation — and Brennan specifically was cited in the review as showing &#8220;a preference for narrative consistency over analytical soundness.&#8221;
The review also indicated that Brennan accepted evidence that backed his predetermined conclusions — such as the widely discredited Steele Dossier — even when others in the intelligence community warned against it, and was &#8220;more swayed by the Dossier&#8217;s general conformity with existing theories than by legitimate tradecraft concerns.&#8221;
But now that Brennan is in the hot seat, he&#8217;s arguing that investigating the &#8220;multiple procedural anomalies&#8221; — over which he presided, alongside Comey — is what actually amounts to the weaponization of intelligence.
Brennan, speaking to MSNBC&#8217;s Nicolle Wallace, claimed that he was a victim of &#8220;the authoritarian playbook&#8221; and that the Trump administration was taking actions that were reflective of the early days of Nazi Germany.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨John Brennan says the investigation into him and James Comey for their role in the Russian Collusion Hoax is &#8220;the authoritarian playbook.&#8221;
He compares it to Nazi Germany.
&#8220;If a president of the United States is willing to weaponize intelligence and justice&#8230;we really are in… <a href="https://t.co/cl1sekq79x">pic.twitter.com/cl1sekq79x</a>
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) <a href="https://twitter.com/townhallcom/status/1943048051092001032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 9, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;If a President of the United States is willing to weaponize intelligence and justice and, you know, law enforcement investigators, and the people who head up these departments and agencies are willing to bow to it, we really are in deep, deep trouble,&#8221; he claimed.
Fox News chief political analyst Brit Hume weighed in on the investigation as well, saying first that it was worth looking into and then reminding audiences that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had financed the Steele Dossier upon which Brennan and Comey had built their case.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨 WATCH: Fox’s <a href="https://twitter.com/brithume?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@brithume</a> on the investigation into former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey: “It’s worthy of investigation.”
“It all comes down once again after all these years to the Steele Dossier which was a dogs breakfast of scurrilous… <a href="https://t.co/p1KSiUsxIZ">pic.twitter.com/p1KSiUsxIZ</a>
— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) <a href="https://twitter.com/TVNewsNow/status/1943075038745317684?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 9, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

House Intelligence Cmte Holds Hearing On Russian Interference In U.S. Election

John Brennan Weaponized Intel Against Trump. Now He’s Mad The Worm Has Turned.

John Brennan Weaponized Intel Against Trump. Now He's Mad The Worm Has Turned

General

The FBI is reportedly probing former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey over their actions related to the Trump-Russia investigation of the 2016 election.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe made referrals for investigation and potential prosecution of the former top intelligence officials to FBI Director Kash Patel. The bureau has opened criminal investigations into both Brennan and Comey, though the scope of those investigations is unclear, Department of Justice officials told <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/john-brennan-james-comey-under-criminal-investigation-doj-sources.amp">Fox News</a>.
Last week, Ratcliffe <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/07/02/us-news/obamas-trump-russia-collusion-report-was-corrupt-from-start-cia-review/">declassified</a> a “tradecraft review” of the 2016 investigation into Russian election meddling and President Donald Trump. The review determined that the investigation may have been sullied by corruption from the start.
Former President Barack Obama ordered Brennan, Comey, and then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper to look into Russian attempts to meddle in the 2016 presidential election, and what links, if any, those attempts may have had with the Trump campaign. Obama’s intelligence trio cut corners and froze out most of the rest of the United States intelligence community from the assessment in the atypical investigation, according to the memo.
The after-action report identified “multiple procedural anomalies” such as “a highly compressed production timeline, stringent compartmentation, and excessive involvement of agency heads.” The procedural oddities undermined the integrity and credibility of the CIA, the report said.
Brennan took the lead on the assessment. He overrode the advice of senior officials at the CIA who recommended not including the unsubstantiated Steele Dossier in the final report
“Despite these objections, Brennan showed a preference for narrative consistency over analytical soundness,” Ratcliffe’s review says. “When confronted with specific flaws in the Dossier by the two mission center leaders — one with extensive operational experience and the other with a strong analytic background — he appeared more swayed by the Dossier&#8217;s general conformity with existing theories than by legitimate tradecraft concerns.”
After the review was completed, its findings motivated Ratcliffe to refer Brennan to the FBI for investigation of potential wrongdoing, according to Fox News.
Brennan “violated the public’s trust and should be held accountable for it,” one official told Fox News without going into detail on what in particular Brennan is being investigated for.

James Comey, John Brennan

Trump DOJ Puts Brennan And Comey Under Investigation For Russiagate: Report

Brennan, Comey Under Criminal Investigation Over 2016 Trump-Russia Probe: Report

FBI director Kash Patel ripped his predecessor, James Comey, on Wednesday evening after Comey questioned Patel’s fitness to hold the post.
Patel appeared on Fox News&#8217; “Special Report” hosted by Bret Baier to respond to comments Comey had made earlier during an appearance on CNN. Patel said that Comey’s flippant use of social media had inspired a wave of potential threats against President Donald Trump’s life.
Earlier this month, Comey had posted, then deleted a picture off his Instagram page of seashells on a beach arranged to say, “86 47.” The former FBI director was immediately blasted for posting the message, widely understood to be a threat to Trump. “86” is commonly understood to mean “get rid of” and “47” is a reference to Trump as the 47th President of the United States.
“Do you know how many copycats we’ve had to investigate as a result of that beachside venture from the former director?” Patel <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/disgraced-former-fbi-chief-deletes-86-47-post-that-got-kash-patels-attention?author=Virginia+Kruta&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Disgraced+Former+FBI+Chief+Deletes+%E2%80%9886+47%E2%80%B2+Post+That+Got+Kash+Patel%E2%80%99s+Attention" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Baier.
“Do you know how many agents I’ve had to take offline from chasing down child sex predators, fentanyl traffickers, terrorists because everywhere across this country, people are popping up on social media and think that a threat to the life of the President of the United States is a joke and they can do it because he did it?” Patel continued.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=memorial&amp;utm_content=editorialmemorialday&amp;_gl=1*1qdq03s*_gcl_au*MTYyNDg0MTE0OS4xNzQxODk4NTMz*_ga*MTEzOTk1NjkxNi4xNzI2MzI1MDQz*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*czE3NDgzNzg2NDgkbzEwMDMkZzEkdDE3NDgzODEwMTckajU4JGwwJGgw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Get 40% Off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
“That&#8217;s what I&#8217;m having to deal with every single day, and that&#8217;s what I&#8217;m having to pull my agents and analysts off because he thought it was funny to go out there and make a political statement,” he added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨 JUST IN: Kash Patel EVISCERATES James Comey — blames him for COPYCAT threats against Trump&#8217;s life
Comey should be LOCKED UP for incitement (at a minimum)
KASH: &#8220;Do you know how many agents I have had to take off line chasing down child predators, fentanyl traffickers, &amp;… <a href="https://t.co/RVDUQTH8w6">pic.twitter.com/RVDUQTH8w6</a>
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) <a href="https://twitter.com/nicksortor/status/1927852551514288489?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2025</a></blockquote>
Comey had previously attacked Patel on CNN, questioning his fitness to head the intelligence agency. Comey himself was fired as FBI director during Trump’s first term.
“Obviously, you start with the fact that the guy has literally nothing in his entire adult life that prepares him for this role. And so, that&#8217;s deeply concerning to start with,” Comey <a href="https://x.com/TheOfficerTatum/status/1927797687849525626" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
“That is a daunting task for him. I hope he lets the career people do their jobs, but they&#8217;ve already forced out a bunch of good career people and sent a chill through the organization,” he added.
Comey later <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/damage-control-jim-comey-insists-he-found-trump-threat-on-beach-didnt-know-what-86-meant?author=Virginia+Kruta&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Damage+Control%3A+Jim+Comey+Insists+He+Found+Trump+Threat+On+Beach%2C+Didn%E2%80%99t+Know+What+%E2%80%9986%E2%80%99+Meant" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claimed</a> he did not know what “86” meant before he posted the message to his social media. He said that he thought it meant to “get out of a place.”
“My wife and I were walking on the beach, and saw those numbers in shells on the beach,” he said, “Somebody else did it!”

Kash Patel

Kash Patel Says Comey Instagram Post Inspired Wave Of Potential Threats Against Trump

Former FBI Director James Comey called the Republican Party “white supremacist adjacent” on MSNBC.
Comey was interviewed over the weekend by MSNBC host and former Biden White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.
“One of the things that is happening now is that the Trump administration, of course, is testing the system in ways it hasn’t been tested before,” Psaki claimed. “In the law enforcement sense, do you think there are laws that should be put in place that would help better manage this, that aren’t in place now? I mean, are we equipped? Is the law enforcement system and the legal system equipped to deal with what we are seeing now?”
“Probably there could be changes at the margins, but in the main we have the tools; there are cultural impediments to doing this work,” Comey answered. “Let’s say you work in the FBI; you know that one of the two political parties is — let me put it nicely— white supremacist adjacent, at a minimum. And so why would you wanna throw your career on that side of the line and be summoned to Capitol Hill to be asked why you’re pursuing these innocent groups. And so we have a cultural impediment to working it effectively that should get more attention than it does.”
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=memorial&amp;utm_content=editorialmemorialday" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Memorial Day Sale – Get 40% Off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
In April 2019, Comey <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/04/opinion/james-comey-trump-racism.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accused</a> President Trump of “stirring” racism for his own political benefit, writing in the New York Times, “America has long had a radioactive racist soup in the center of our national life. Donald Trump thinks he is stirring it for political benefit. He’s actually doing something more dangerous.” He addressed Trump directly, saying, “You must stop trying to unleash and exploit the radioactive energy of racism.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
James Comey says the Republican Party are White supremacists.
He also called to ass*ssinate Trump.
He’s demonizing an entire group and calling for violence.
He knows exactly what he’s doing.<a href="https://t.co/Fv5HUosbpn">pic.twitter.com/Fv5HUosbpn</a>
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) <a href="https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1927003388534816881?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Comey also attacked the GOP by accusing the party of ignoring principles, although he followed by suggesting — without any irony at all and ignoring the actions of the Biden presidency, that a Democratic president might implement investigations of the GOP. He stated, “I know Republicans these days aren’t big in thinking about principle or precedent; they’re gonna be deeply sorry that disappears because someday there’ll be a Democratic president and there will be investigations of Republican office holders. If I’m them (sic), I sure would want these career people in place making sure that it’s done in the right way.”

ABC News – 2018

James Comey Calls GOP ‘White Supremacist Adjacent’

Republican Party

White Supremacists

Former FBI Director James Comey embarked on a media tour to save face after an Instagram post landed him in hot water, and he doubled down on claims that he&#8217;d had nothing to do with creating the shell formation he&#8217;d photographed during a casual &#8220;beach walk&#8221; — and that he&#8217;d had no idea the term &#8220;86&#8221; might imply a threat.
Comey first found himself at the center of heated conversation when he shared a photo from the beach, showing seashells that &#8220;someone&#8221; had arranged to form the numbers &#8220;86&#8221; and &#8220;47.&#8221; Critics immediately noted that &#8220;86&#8221; was generally understood to mean &#8220;get rid of&#8221; and &#8220;47&#8221; was a clear reference to President Donald Trump, the 47th president — and they pointed out the fact that Comey should have known better than to post something that so many would interpret as a threat.
The former FBI chief, who was fired by Trump in 2017, claimed at the time that he did not realize the term implied violence and deleted the post — but not before it caught the attention of current FBI Director Kash Patel, and it earned Comey a visit from the United States Secret Service.
Comey doubled down during an appearance on CBS&#8217; &#8220;The Late Show&#8221; with Stephen Colbert, saying again that he and his wife had simply stumbled on the arrangement of seashells — and that he&#8217;d interpreted the message as entirely political.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨JAMES COMEY: “My wife and I were walking on the beach, and saw those numbers in shells on the beach&#8230;somebody else did it!” <a href="https://t.co/LZ6GOX8inv">pic.twitter.com/LZ6GOX8inv</a>
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) <a href="https://twitter.com/townhallcom/status/1925185777530474968?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 21, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;My wife and I were walking on the beach, and saw those numbers in shells on the beach,&#8221; he said, adding, &#8220;Somebody else did it!&#8221;
&#8220;We were on a walk, preparing for this week,&#8221; Comey continued. &#8220;And she said, &#8216;Why&#8217;d somebody put their address in the sand?&#8217; We looked at it, trying to figure out what it was. She&#8217;d long been a server in restaurants. She said, &#8216;You know what I think it is? A reference to restaurants. When you&#8217;d 86 something at a restaurant.&#8217; I said, &#8216;No, I remember as a kid, you&#8217;d say &#8217;86&#8217; to get out of a place. This place stinks, let&#8217;s 86 it.&#8217; So I said, &#8216;I think it&#8217;s a clever political message.'&#8221;
Comey then tossed his wife under the bus, saying that she was responsible for encouraging him to take the photo and post it to his Instagram page. &#8220;She said, &#8216;You should take a picture.&#8217; I said, &#8216;Sure.&#8217; She said, &#8216;You should Instagram that.&#8217; And then, boom.&#8221;

Damage Control: Jim Comey Insists He Found Trump Threat On Beach, Didn’t Know What ’86’ Meant

Damage Control: Jim Comey Insists He Found Trump Threat On Beach, Didn't Know What '86' Meant

FBI Director Kash Patel teased a coming &#8220;wave of transparency&#8221; with regard to the Russiagate controversy that dogged President Donald Trump during his first term in the White House.
In a Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/video/6373020839112" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview</a> alongside Deputy Director Dan Bongino, Patel spoke to &#8220;Sunday Morning Futures&#8221; host Maria Bartiromo about reviving trust in the bureau years after the scandal that they have long examined and criticized. Trump <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/immediate-declassification-of-materials-related-to-the-federal-bureau-of-investigations-crossfire-hurricane-investigation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed</a> an order in March for the declassification of materials related to the Russia investigation, codenamed &#8220;Crossfire Hurricane,&#8221; led by the FBI. Just The News chief investigative correspondent Jerry Dunleavy has already <a href="https://justthenews.com/government/federal-agencies/declassified-crossfire-hurricane-docs-shine-light-steele-clinton-and" target="_blank" rel="noopener">begun to report</a> some of their contents.
&#8220;I can speak to the folks that were in our seats, our predecessors, and they intentionally failed the American public by putting on the biggest D.C. deception game we have ever seen. They said the FBI was the most storied institution for law enforcement, and it was. And it will be again very soon,&#8221; Patel said.
Patel then made reference to several major Russiagate figures who previously served in the bureau: former Director James Comey, former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, former agent Peter Strzok, and former General Counsel James Baker. The interview, which aired Sunday, was recorded before federal authorities <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/director-of-national-intel-says-comey-should-be-thrown-jail-86-trump-post" target="_blank" rel="noopener">opened</a> an investigation into Comey over a social media post that some have taken to be a threat against Trump. Comey denies that he intended to call for violence.
&#8220;But when the likes of Comey and McCabe and Strzok and company came in here with the James Bakers of the world and intentionally lied to a federal court, only to rig a presidential election by lying to the American public and using taxpayer dollars, likely illegally, to fund this entire operation, and then withhold exculpatory information from a federal court that I used to appear before to manhunt terrorists, that&#8217;s what broke the FBI,&#8221; Patel said, referring to a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-says-kill-fisa-as-lawmakers-consider-surveillance-reauthorization" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FISA scandal</a> within Russiagate.
&#8220;And then, when they were caught, they lied about it,&#8221; Patel added. &#8220;And you and a few others like Dan and others were brave enough to cover it six, seven, eight years ago. And we&#8217;re still talking about it today, because, as Congress is working rigorously with us, the Crossfire Hurricane documents are coming fast and hard. And they&#8217;re being sent there unredacted, so we can have full accountability. And that&#8217;s how you restore &#8230; the trust that was lost to the American public when it comes to the FBI.&#8221;
Bartiromo pushed back.
&#8220;Yes, but, come on, Director. With all due respect, we have been talking about this for a long time, and I have been demanding accountability for many, many years,&#8221; she said. &#8220;One of the — you mentioned Comey, Strzok and the rest. They have got TV shows. They have got media platforms. They&#8217;re fine. There&#8217;s been no accountability.&#8221;
In response to what he conceded was &#8220;a fair criticism,&#8221; Patel emphasized the situation is now different.
&#8220;What I will tell people is, we weren&#8217;t here in the FBI in the last five years, when we had statute of limitations that were still in play, where we could have investigated criminal conduct. Most of these statute of limitations are five years old,&#8221; Patel said. &#8220;And we will investigate criminal conduct where we find a righteous case to do so and the law and the facts allow us to. But a lot of it, we&#8217;re precluded from. So we will take the criticism, and it&#8217;s rightfully so, that could we have done more in the past? Sure, people before us could have.&#8221;
He continued: &#8220;But what we can do now is continue to put out the documents and the information that these people withheld from the American public. And I&#8217;m just telling you, right now, as much as we know about Crossfire Hurricane, he and I just found out more last week. And we&#8217;re continuing to work with Congress to put those documents out. That&#8217;s how vindictive and vicious the former leadership structure here was. Not only did they bastardize the FISA process and lie to the American public. They withheld and hid documentation and put it in rooms where people weren&#8217;t supposed to look. And it&#8217;s a good thing we&#8217;re here now to clean it up, and you&#8217;re about to see a wave of transparency.&#8221;
Pressed to explain what he meant, Patel added with a smile, &#8220;Just give us about a week or two.&#8221;
<iframe loading="lazy" title="&#039;WAVE OF TRANSPARENCY&#039;: FBI director hints at agency&#039;s move to rebuild Americans&#039; trust" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XqI_sFSPbJQ?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

FBI Director Kash Patel

Kash Patel Hints At Major Russia Investigation Reveal

Dan Bongino

kash patel

Menu