When James Comey issued his infamous letter less than two weeks before the election, he was instantly Donald Trump’s favorite person on earth. Comey’s ill-timed and unnecessary letter got front page (and full page) attention in major newspapers and 24-hour play on the news, utterly dominating coverage and reversing the momentum of the election. It was enough to ensure that Comey was one of the few in-place bureau chiefs that Trump didn’t even think about replacing, and also to earn him both a hugs and a kiss.
President Donald Trump appeared to blow a kiss at FBI Director James Comey during a White House event on Sunday. ...
“He’s become more famous than me,” Trump said as he called to Comey and shook his hand. Trump also gave the embattled FBI director a couple of pats on the back.
But Comey wasn’t happy about Trump’s unsupported claim that President Obama had ordered up wiretaps on Trump’s phones, especially since it would likely be the FBI on the other end of those taps.
FBI Director James Comey was "incredulous" over the weekend after President Donald Trump's allegation via Twitter that former President Barack Obama ordered a wiretap of his phone during the campaign, a person familiar with the matter told CNN.
The source said Comey was concerned that the allegation would make the FBI look bad, and that concern was part of what prompted the FBI director to have his staff reach out to staff at the Department of Justice asking them to knock down the allegation.
Comey, who knows a thing or two about making the FBI look bad, was met with stony silence from the Sessions-controlled Justice Department, and found that Trump was more than ready to deny him.
Answering a question from ABC News' George Stephanopoulos on “Good Morning America” about whether Trump accepted FBI Director James Comey's reported denial of his claims, Sanders replied, "You know, I don’t think he does, George."
Comey learned the same lesson that many news organizations have already been through. If you’re putting out stories that Trump likes and finds helpful, you’re on the side of good. As soon as you say something less than Trump-tastic, you move to the bad dude category.
Now he’s getting the silent treatment.
"I'm almost 100 percent certain" that Trump and Comey have not spoken since Saturday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters Monday in an off-camera briefing. He also cast doubt on whether Comey really approached the Justice Department about the accusations, saying "I don't know" if that occurred.
It might have been nice if Donald Trump had actually spoken to Comey before conducting his Saturday morning Twitter fit. For example, he might have asked the FBI director, “Is there anything to this, or is it just another lame Breitbart fantasy?” But that kind of fact checking would never occur to Trump.
Now Comey, Congress, and all of America will get the joy of watching the former president on trial even though there is zero evidence, just because Trump pointed a stubby finger that way.
Trump has not given any evidence to back up the claim, while a spokesman for Obama has denied that he ordered wiretapping of Trump. Spicer did not give any more specific evidence and said he wanted to see how a congressional investigation into the matter, which the White House urged, will play out.
Maybe that’s the reason Trump made a tweet about ratings on his TV show The Apprentice immediately following his series of tweets about wire taps. He wants to prove that he can put on a better show.