Former FBI director James Comey — whose firing by President Trump last spring accelerated the Russia investigation — is writing a book about “what good, ethical leadership looks like and how it drives sound decisions,” according to its publisher.
The book — which in any other year would sound like the most boring one ever, but thanks to Trump has attracted feverish anticipation akin to “Valley of the Dolls” — will be published in Spring 2018. Flatiron Books scored Comey’s services in a bidding war that reached $2 million.
“Using examples from some of the highest-stakes situations in the past two decades of American government, Comey will share yet-unheard anecdotes from his long and distinguished career,” said the publisher in a statement.
The FBI director has no shortage of anecdotes, having revealed himself to be an exhaustive contemporaneous note-taker during his testimony before Congress, which revealed that he believed President Trump was leaning on him to end the investigation into former adviser Mike Flynn’s ties to Russia.
“Throughout his career, James Comey has had to face one difficult decision after another as he has served the leaders of our country,” said Flatiron president Bob Miller. “His book promises to take us inside those extraordinary moments in our history, showing us how these leaders have behaved under pressure. By doing so, Director Comey will give us unprecedented entry into the corridors of power, and a remarkable lesson in leadership itself.”
In arriving on the international stage, Comey has displayed a flair for drama, having thrust himself into the spotlight during the 2016 presidential campaign by announcing the bureau was reopening, then closing, an investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails days before the election. After his firing by Trump, he released a memo recounting the president’s possible attempt to obstruct justice in the Flynn case, resulting in the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller to investigate the president.
