'Irreparable damage to the bureau': Former FBI agents sound off on James Comey

James Comey has recognized a kindred spirit in Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, who in 1951, penned the immortal lines, “Do not go gentle into that good night … Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” To wit, the former FBI director confidently strode up to microphones following two days of contentious testimony before House lawmakers, and let it all hang out. Comey, the man some sympathetic media-types have referred to as a humble servant-leader, seized the opportunity to settle some old scores as he pilloried Fox News and the Republican Party.

“The FBI’s reputation has taken a big hit because the president with his acolytes has lied about it constantly,” Comey lectured reporters following the final closed-door session with the House Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform committees on Monday. Recognizing a unique opportunity, Comey paused for effect ... and then continued: “At some point, someone has to stand up and face the fear of Fox News, fear of their base, fear of mean tweets, stand up for the values of this country and not slink away into retirement but stand up and speak the truth.”

His shot across the bow at House Republicans was his latest in a recent line of partisan snipes at a political party with which he once publicly claimed affiliation. During his long government career, Comey played the near-perfect non-partisan actor, earning accolades from both sides of the aisle. His behind-the-scenes, self-serving planting of a story that highlighted his “courageous non-partisanship” during a now well-chronicled hospital bedside standoff with the George W. Bush White House on March 11, 2004, during the Stellar Wind re-authorization battle, is legion — and earned him former President Barack Obama’s nod to become the seventh director of the FBI.

It is also a window into the public career of a man who self-professes his own humility and sacrifice at every turn.

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