Quick Word on Comey's Testimony

Let me revive my long dormant blog with a short, but maybe informative post about Jim Comey's testimony regarding Trump's efforts to undermine the investigation into Russia's efforts to hack the 2016 election. As a fellow alumnus of William & Mary, and as an attorney, I thought I could give some context about Comey's testimony.

1) There is no fucking way Comey is lying about anything Trump said to him. 

Like me, Comey is an alumnus of William & Mary, and as a result, he would have been indoctrinated into the William & Mary honor code. At William & Mary, we all took pledges to abide by the honor code, which prohibited lying, cheating, or stealing. Now, that may seem like a nothing burger, but everything about William & Mary is steeped in tradition. It's the nation's oldest university, and if you're going to William & Mary, you not only knew about the traditions, but more than likely, you chose the school because of those traditions. The honor code is a big, big part of those traditions.

So, in my experience, the students at William & Mary took the honor code seriously. If you were caught violating the honor code, you would be brought in front of the Honor council, made up of fellow students, and the punishments were harsh. As in, the Administration had to consistently talk them out of expulsion harsh. Cheating was nonexistent, and professors didn't proctor exams because they didn't need to. 

Now, this isn't a write-up about how great the honor code was, or that I'm instinctively honest, but rather, it's meant to help you get the mindset of Comey. He chose a school with a harsh honor code as his alma mater. He could've gone to a fair number of schools without a 200 year old honor code. He didn't. Instead, he was indoctrinated into the cult of the honor code at 18, and did so willingly.

And remember, Comey started in the Justice Department, where he famously faced down the Bush Administration's efforts to conduct warrantless surveillance on Americans. He then headed the FBI. This guy's whole ethos as an adult centers around being forthright and honest. 

So, here Comey is now on the public stage, giving testimony under oath, about the President of the United States of America. Every word will be dissected and fought over. In that context, there is simply no way he would lie on such a public stage about something so important. Doing so would destroy the view he had of himself since he was 18 years old. It. Ain't. Happening.

2) Memos to the File is a Lawyer Move

In case you were wondering about the memos Comey wrote regarding his experiences with Trump, and why he wrote them, it's a classic lawyer move. When I am dealing with an opposing lawyer who I find to be untrustworthy (shocking, I know), I will document every statement I make with them. I do this by sending an email to opposing counsel documenting what was discussed and the various positions. That way, when there is some sort of dispute over what was agreed to, I can pull up the email and show it to the Court. Every lawyer does this.

Comey, then, in writing up the memos, was clearly worried about Trump from the get-go. So, he fell back on his training and started documenting the file. The fact that he wrote the memos, which we will now all see, is a strong indication from the get-go that Comey suspected something was up with Trump. And he wrote up these memos to prove to everyone that he wasn't lying. In other words, as soon as he started writing these memos, Comey knew he would end up testifying in Congress about their contents.