Less than a month ago, former FBI Director James Comey ominously tweeted that the “American people” would soon hear his full story. That is, Comey meant that he’d reveal much more beyond the memos that led to Robert Mueller’s appointment as special counsel of the Russia probe. Well, the American people responded by preordering Comey’s upcoming book, A Higher Loyalty, into bestseller status. And the Republican National Committee is trying to ward off the effects of this memoir (before it hits shelves on April 17) with a specially crafted website, LyinComey.com.
Aside from “Lyin’ Ted” Cruz probably feeling relieved to lose his Trump-bestowed, campaign-trail nickname, it takes sheer boldness for the RNC to run with the same label about an ousted bureau director. Yashar Ali of New York noted that the site also arrives before Comey’s 20/20 interview (in which he literally compares Trump to a mob boss) and tweeted this handy screencap of the opposition research-style website.
Ahead of his interview and the release of his book, the Republican National Committee has put together a campaign style opposition research site called “Lyin’ Comey” pic.twitter.com/I9Wc34pw1I
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) April 12, 2018
The RNC labeling is front and center on the website, and CNN spoke with chairman Ronna McDaniel, who gamely trashed Comey:
“Comey is a liar and a leaker and his misconduct led both Republicans and Democrats to call for his firing. If Comey wants the spotlight back on him, we’ll make sure the American people understand why he has no one but himself to blame for his complete lack of credibility.”
Thus far, the website is pretty barren for content, other than citing a Trump tweet that labels Comey as a liar. In addition, one of the “Truth” segments quotes Hillary Clinton accusing Comey of “bow[ing] to partisan pressure” (which she said while addressing the reopening of her email probe weeks before the election, a move that arguably aided Trump). That section also quotes CNN’s Chris Cillizza calling Comey a “typical Washington insider,” although there’s no context to explain why this would be, in the RNC’s eyes, a bad thing.
Needless to say, folks are still going to read Comey’s memoir, which is only happening because Trump reportedly pressured him to drop the investigation into Michael Flynn. Comey resisted and was publicly humiliated as a result, and now (again) it is his turn to talk.
(Via Yashar Ali & CNN)