The Comey Rule

Yeah. I just, uh...

I just... There's so many Comey stories.

They're ju... they're an emotional roller coaster,

I just don't know what to think about James Comey.

First he seemed like he's the good guy,

then he seemed like he's the bad guy,

then it seemed like he sacrificed himself

to save other people.

Oh, my God.

Is James Comey Severus Snape?

I was on the way to winning...

It was, in fact, a big October surprise.

T... that's not the FBI. That's not what the FBI is supposed to do.

It is clear they have no idea

what these e-mails are.

Jim Comey...

... reading of the law is completely wrong.

I consider this decision an outrage.

You chose to make public statements

about one investigation and not another.

There would be political ramifications to your comments.

Do you have any regrets,

or are there any things you would do differently?

You're wondering why there isn't any cake.

Afternoon, Mr. Rosenstein.

Two reasons.

One, I don't really like cake.

And two, I hate false ceremony.

Thank-yous are for Mother's Day.

Ah, Hoover.

There's a lesson in Hoover's story, Justin.

Director of the FBI is afforded an almost cultlike status.

To resist that takes discipline.

Humility.

Hmm. As opposed to...

You know what they do every year on the Fourth of July?

Jim Comey and his family?

- No. - They gather together

and read the Declaration of Independence aloud to one another.

That's not in his book.

He just found a way to make sure

that everyone knows.

That's Jim.

In governance, there are people who do the work,

and there are showboats.

Jim...

was always a showboat.

Don't worry. He can't pick me.

They think I'm a Bush guy.

I know. They each make such a different statement.

Yeah, but which tie?

- Ta-da! - He goes gold.

- Very nice, Dad. - Handsome.

- You owe me a buck. - Have a great day.

- Say hi to Barack for me. - Me, too!

Governor, I'm told you got

24 dead and over 200 injured.

Do we have that right?

I've ordered Janet Napolitano at DHS

and Craig Fugate at FEMA to coordinate with your team

to provide any assistance you might need.

Just, uh, just hang in there... help's coming.

All right.

Come on in, Jim.

- Good to meet you, Mr. President. - You, too.

I should confess, sir, I supported John McCain.

And Romney.

I know.

Come on.

So...

Why...

should I hire you to run the Bureau?

Why shouldn't I pick, say...

oh, someone who supports my criminal justice reform initiative?

Uh, you could, Mr. President,

and that's an issue on which reasonable people can disagree.

But I believe stiffer sentencing laws have, on the whole,

made the country safer.

A lot of Americans aren't dead today

because the guys who might have killed them were locked up.

Well, still, it might be easier for me to have an FBI director

- who agrees with me. - Well, that's true, but...

you've always struck me as one of those leaders

who gains just as much from thoughtful disagreement.

Hmm.

You garnered a lot of attention for a...

well, taking on the Mob as prosecutor

and defending the DOJ in '04.

I suppose that's true.

Do you need a lot of attention?

That's not a huge driver for me.

- No, uh, interest in politics down the line? - None.

Good.

Politicians are awful.

Advisor of mine says you were a...

an outstanding deputy A.G.

- Thank you. - He also says you can be self-righteous

and, uh, morally superior.

Your advisor sounds like an excellent judge of character.

What else do I need to know about you, Jim?

What do you... what do you think your weaknesses are?

Well...

um, sometimes I can be impulsive and...

convince myself I'm being decisive.

How's your health? Any recurrence?

- None, sir. Clean scans for seven years now. - Hmm.

Because, uh, there's no pressure in any private sector job

equivalent to the burden of national security.

- That's understood. - The director can be a whipping boy for Congress.

And you certainly wouldn't make

what the private sector can pay you.

Given all that, why would you want to come back to government?

When I was, uh, 16...

a man in a knit cap broke into our house

and put a gun to my kid brother's head.

He said, "You move, and I will blow his head off."

The guy had been terrorizing our neighborhood for months.

They called him the Ramsey Rapist.

I showed him where my parents kept their few valuables

and begged him not to kill us.

For some reason, he didn't.

Just locked us in the basement and left.

I slept with a butcher knife in my bed for years.

The guy was never caught, so I had this...

"what if" tape in my head.

"What if he comes back?

What if my sister is home when he does?"

I'd been...

powerless.

Money is nice.

Stopping bad guys is better.

You know, uh...

if you were to get this job,

conversations like this would be impossible.

The president and the FBI director...

have to be at arm's length.

One day, uh,

you might be called upon to investigate something

someone in my party may have done

- or someone on my staff or... - You.

Well, for those investigations to be credible,

well, we cannot be close.

Mr. President, I hope I can look forward to years

of not being close with you.

- Good morning, Mr. Director. - Mm.

All the field officers regard us with some suspicion.

New York gripes the most.

They think they're their own Bureau.

How have you handled that, generally?

I tell them, "If you're not happy, leave.

There's plenty of people that want your job."

You can't run this place if you mind being resented.

We do stand-up meetings,

so I don't have to waste time

while they sit and then get back up again.

But...

you're gonna have to make changes.

There's not a lot of talent in the pipeline,

not even for deputy.

You need somebody who's ready politically.

The FBI is the world of the bank shot.

Director Mueller,

this is the promotion for the SAC

- in the Kansas City office. - Okay.

Keep your eye on Cyber.

We're hugely vulnerable to a coordinated attack.

- Bob? - Yeah?

Shouldn't we discuss what you're signing?

What for?

That's a senior executive who's going to be reporting to me in a week.

Can I know who he is

- and why you're promoting... - You want it, take it.

I don't want it; I just wanted to discuss it.

A word of advice, Jim.

If you've been doing this for ten years,

and a president asks you to stay on for another two,

say no.

You should know that I have several expectations of you.

I expect you to work hard,

because you owe that to the taxpayer.

I expect you to exercise good judgment.

Being here means you have the power to do good,

or, if you abuse that power, great harm.

I expect you to find joy in your work.

You are part of an organization devoted to doing good,

protecting the weak, rescuing the taken,

and catching criminals.

That is work with moral content.

Doing it should be a source of great joy.

And I expect you to protect this institution's

reservoir of trust and credibility,

which makes possible all of our work.

I expect you to fight for balance in your lives.

You are all driven by our mission,

and you are used to absorbing stress.

That means you need more time with your loved ones, not less.

So...

I order you to love someone.

It's the right thing to do.

It's also good for you.