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Former FBI Director James Comey has been called many things by critics and fans alike. However, it looks like her stab at being a pop singer never ended. Comey recently raised eyebrows with his rendition of Beyoncé’s “Sandcastles” from FBI officials in a secret briefing … but was met with a resounding silence.
It seems that some of his ambassadors may have viewed this event as a reason to intervene rather than postpone. In fairness to the agents, they probably had no idea that Comey was using the whistleblowers to uncover hidden intelligence and messages.
Comey has occasionally appeared in the press with outlandish or self-aggrandizing posts. However, this one left many scratching their heads. Well, it was vintage Comey, including a surprise admission about his handling of classified information.
Comey recalled the moment from an FBI briefing when he realized that a secret program being discussed was named after his favorite song. He wrote:
JAMES COMEY ADMITS TO SINGING BEYONCÉ’S SONG DURING A SHORT FBI INTERVIEW
Former FBI director James Comey just loves sing-alongs, but that may have caused a slip of the tongue. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
“One morning, I was sitting on a large table in a room full of people to get information about a certain operation. The spokesman began by saying, the operation was named ‘Sandcastles.’ Now, this was 2016, and you probably know that Beyoncé’s album ‘Lemonade’ came out with a song called ‘Sandcastles.’ So, I said, ‘Oh, like a Beyoncé song.’ Blank looked around the FBI conference room. So, I did the natural thing. I think I sang, ‘We’re rebuilding sand castles that were washed away.’ No, nothing – dead silence. ‘Don’t worry,’ I said, ‘go ahead.’ Only when I got home and told the story to my family did I get the reaction I wanted. When I write, I listen to classical or jazz because, in ways I can’t explain, music opens something up. It relieves me.”
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It also exempted Comey from security protocols. His favorite story included the fact that, having disappointed his audience at the FBI, he decided to repeat it to his family. By doing so, you may have revealed the code name of the FBI’s classified program to unsuspecting people in an unsecured environment. This is not an indication from Comey that the code name was considered sensitive information by the FBI before his encore performance.
The Justice Department has fought in court to withhold code names as sensitive national security matters, including during Comey’s tenure as director.
FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY HALLIGAN DEFENDS PROSECUTOR STATUS IN WAKE OF COMEY, JAMES FIRED
For example, in NY Times v. DOJ, 2023, did not dispute that the FBI could withhold code names because “certain code names [the] The FBI has been used for certain FBI programs’ and that the disclosure of these materials ‘would risk breaking the law by revealing FBI procedures and potential issues related to foreign relations.’
This is not the first time Comey has raised concerns about his violation of FBI policies and procedures regarding classified material. The Justice Department’s inspector general has released a harrowing account of how, after being fired by President Donald Trump, Comey improperly deleted FBI files and arranged for the information to be leaked to the media to discredit Trump.
The media immediately defended him even though he had previously led an investigation into its leakers. On CNN and MSNBC, legal experts dismissed arguments that this was improper or important for the FBI.
The memos clearly show that Comey likely knew they contained potentially classified information. Comey wrote in a Jan. 7, 2017 that “I’m not sure of the proper classification, so I chose privacy.” Four memos, including two given to a friend to leak to the media, were later found to have been classified.
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Comey has occasionally appeared in the press with outlandish or self-aggrandizing posts. However, this one left many scratching their heads.
What was remarkable about this leak was Comey’s obsession with his public persona. He took FBI material to bolster his image in the media. He later published an article called “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership,” which portrayed him in heroic terms without mentioning the alleged chef. During his tenure as director, the Justice Department investigated and prosecuted FBI employees for leaks. The “superior loyalty” that Comey displayed often seemed to be his blind loyalty to his image.
Comey has previously spoken about his infatuation with Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, but insists that “I can’t explain it, music opens something up. It sets me free.”
Given his history of leaks and other violations, it may be time to try a new kind of music. It seems pop is letting loose a little on James Comey.
For now, Comey may be mischaracterizing tears of joy rather than regret when he lands a line from “Sandcastles”: “I made you cry when I left.”
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