Former FBI Director James Comey has been mentioned a lot by critics and fans alike. However, it seems that his attempt to become a pop singer was not successful. Comey recently raised eyebrows when he sang the story of Beyoncé’s “Sandcastles” during a classified briefing for FBI officials, but there was an icy silence.
It appears that some of his agents viewed the occasion as grounds for intervention rather than extradition. In fairness to the agents, they were probably unaware of Comey’s use of beaches to uncover hidden intelligence and messages.
Comey has regularly appeared in the press with bizarre or self-aggrandizing reports. However, this one left many scratching their heads. Still, it was vintage Comey, including a surprising admission about his handling of classified information.
Comey recalled the moment at a secret FBI briefing when he realized that a secret program being discussed was named after a favorite song. He wrote:
JAMES COMEY ADMITS HE SINGED BEYONCÉ’S SONG DURING SENSITIVE FBI BRIEFING
Former FBI Director James Comey loves to sing songs, but that may have caused a slip of the tongue. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
“One morning I was sitting at the head of a large table in a crowded room to be briefed on a particular piece of work. The briefer started by saying that the operation was codenamed ‘Sandcastles.’ This was 2016 and you may know that Beyoncé’s album ‘Lemonade’ had come out with a song called ‘Sandcastles.’ Blank stares around the entire FBI conference room. So I did the natural thing. I think I sang, “We rebuild sand castles that have been washed away.” No, nothing – dead silence. “It doesn’t matter,” I said, “go ahead.” It wasn’t until I got home and told my family the story that I got the reaction I was looking for. When I write, I listen to classical or jazz, because the music, in a way I can’t explain, unlocks something. It frees me.”
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It also apparently freed Comey from security protocols. His charming story included the fact that, disappointed by his audience at the FBI, he decided to tell his family. In doing so, he may have revealed the code name of a secret FBI program to unregistered individuals in an unsecured location. This is not an indication to Comey whether 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 issues, including during Comey’s tenure as director.
FORMER TRUMP LAWYER HALLIGAN DEFENDS US PROSECUTOR STATUS AFTER COMEY, JAMES FIRED
For example, indoors NY Times v. DOJBy 2023, it was beyond dispute that the FBI could withhold code names because “specific code names [the] FBI uses for certain FBI programs and that disclosing these things “would risk circumventing the law by exposing FBI processes and potential problems related to relations with foreign countries.”
This is not the first time Comey has raised concerns about his violation of FBI protocols and procedures regarding classified materials. The Justice Department’s inspector general issued a scathing report on how Comey, after being fired by President Donald Trump, improperly deleted FBI files and then arranged for the information to be leaked to the media to undermine Trump.
The media immediately defended him, despite his having led investigations into leakers in the past. On CNN and MSNBC, legal experts rejected arguments that this was inappropriate or FBI material.
It is clear from the memos that Comey was likely aware that they may contain classified information. Comey wrote in a Jan. 7, 2017, memo: “I am unsure of the correct classification, so I have chosen classified.” The four memos, including two given to his friend to leak to the media, were later found to have been classified.
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Comey has regularly appeared in the press with bizarre or self-aggrandizing reports. However, this one left many scratching their heads.
What was striking about the leaks was Comey’s obsession with his own public persona. He used FBI material to boost his image with the media. He later published “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership,” which portrayed him in heroic terms without addressing accusations that he was a leaker. During his term as director, the Justice Department investigated and prosecuted FBI personnel for leaks. The “higher loyalty” Comey displayed often seemed to be his blind loyalty to his own image.
Comey has previously opened up about his obsession with both Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, but insists that “I can’t explain it, the music unlocks something. It frees me.”
Considering his history of leaks and other transgressions, it might be time to try a new genre of music. It seems pop is a little too liberating for James Comey.
In the meantime, Comey may be interpreting the tears of joy rather than regret when he lifted the line from “Sandcastles”: “I made you cry when I walked away.”
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