James Comey

Some Lesser Known Facts About James Comey

• Does James Comey smoke:? Yes

• Does James Comey drink alcohol:? Yes 

• He was born in Yonkers, New York and grew up in Allendale, New Jersey.

• He has an Irish heritage.

• In 1977, James Comey and his brother were held at the gunpoint in their home by a man suspected of a series of rapes in that area.

• After receiving his Juris Doctor (J.D.) from the University of Chicago Law School, James served as a law clerk in Manhattan for John M. Walker, Jr. (the then United States District Judge).

• He also worked as an associate for Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in their New York office.

• From 1987 to 1993, Comey worked at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, where he also served as Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division and helped prosecute the Gambino crime family.

• In 1996, he got specialization in commercial litigation and criminal defense from a private law firm- McGuire Woods.

• In 1996, he served as the Deputy Special Counsel to Investigate Whitewater Development Corporation, which looked into allegations that President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary Clinton, were involved in a fraudulent real estate deal.

• In 2001, he led the investigation into the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia, in which 19 American servicemen were killed.

• From 2002 to 2003, he served as the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

• In 2003, he brought charges against Martha Stewart of fraud, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice, which led to her conviction and she was sentenced 5 months in prison in 2004.

• In 2004, while serving as acting attorney general, he refused to certify as lawful parts of the George Bush Administration’s domestic wiretapping program.

• From 2005 to 2010, Comey served as the General Counsel and Senior Vice President at Lockheed Martin Corp.

• In 2013, James served as Hertog Fellow and Senior Research Scholar at Columbia University.

• On 29 July 2013, the US Senate confirmed him the Director of FBI  by a 93-1 count, the lone holdout was Senator Rand Paul.

• On 4 September 2013, James Comey was sworn in as director of the FBI by the Barack Obama Government.

• On 5 July 2016, Comey recommend charges against Hillary Clinton (the then US Secretary of State) for her use of a private email server.

• On 7 July 2016, he testified that most of his adult life, he had been a registered Republican and had supported Republicans John McCain and Mitt Romney in their bids for President, but that he is “not registered any longer.”

• On 20 March 2017, he confirmed that FBI was investigating links between Russia and Presidential campaign staff of Donald Trump.

• On 9 May 2017, President Donald Trump fired him from the post of director of FBI on the recommendation of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. He became the second firing of an FBI director in history after Bill Clinton (the then US President) dismissed William Sessions amid allegations of ethical lapses in 1993. 

• James Comey has been married to his wife, Patrice for 29 years and they are parents of 5 children.

• His wife, Patrice was his college sweetheart. They met as college Freshmen at William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia in 1978. On the day of his sworn-in ceremony as director of FBI in 2013, James Comey paid tribute to his wife, saying: “Nearly everything I am and have done in my adult life is due to the great good fortune of marrying up.”

• In 2011, William and Mary Law School named James Comey the “Carter O. Lowance Fellow,” which is considered as one of the law school’s highest honors.

• In 1995, James and Patrice lost their 9-day-old son, Collin, who died from a Group B strep infection.

• In 1983, James Comey visited Sierra Leone, where Patrice was serving in the Peace Corps. James got infected with Malaria there and Patrice looked after him in the hospital. The two got married in 1987 and moved to Richmond from New York in 1993, seeking a peaceful location for raising their family.

• He doesn’t consider WikiLeaks to be a legitimate journalistic organization.