BYRON YORK: New revelations shed light on Comey, Trump, and that ‘loyalty’ demand.
There was great indignation and much disapproval last year when it was reported that President Trump had asked then-FBI Director James Comey for “loyalty.” Such a request, it was said, was more characteristic of a mob boss than a president — “mob boss” being a phrase Comey himself would use in a book whose title (A Higher Loyalty) he took from the president’s request.
Now, Comey’s book and the revelations it has triggered are casting new light on the “loyalty” issue — a light that makes Trump’s position look far more understandable.
The short version is this: In Trump’s first meeting with the FBI director, on January 6, 2017, when Trump was president-elect, Comey asked to meet alone with Trump. When the two were by themselves, face-to-face, Comey told Trump about the “golden showers” episode in the Trump dossier. Comey didn’t discuss any other parts of the dossier. He just outlined the dossier’s tale of Trump involved in a kinky sex show in a Moscow hotel room in 2013. . . .
At Comey’s next meeting with the president, however, on January 28, Trump brought up loyalty, according to the Comey memos. The two men were discussing leaks and how damaging they could be. Comey explained to the president that “the entire government leaks like crazy.” Then Comey wrote that, “[Trump] replied that he needed loyalty and expected loyalty.”
The news of that exchange — leaked by Comey after Trump fired him — spurred widespread outrage over Trump’s mention of loyalty. But the context of Trump’s statement — not known until now — adds to our understanding of the president’s talk.
Why would Trump wonder about the FBI director’s loyalty? Perhaps because in their first meeting, the FBI director dropped the Moscow sex allegation on Trump, followed immediately by its publication in the media. It seems entirely reasonable for a president to wonder what was going on and whether the FBI director was loyal, not to the president personally, but to the confidentiality that is required in his role as head of the nation’s chief investigative agency.
He may have suspected that Comey was just a catty New Jersey bitch who loves drama.