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James Comey Gives FBI Agents Formula For Resisting ‘Evil’ Trump: ‘Sleep, Love, Laugh’

James_Comey | Circa June 2016 | By Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Former FBI Director James Comey sent a message to agents within the FBI and Department of Justice Monday telling them to simply “sleep, love [and] laugh” to resist the “evil” in President Donald Trump’s administration.

Comey, who Trump fired during his first term in May 2017, wrote in a statement that federal law enforcement cannot allow the “darkness of bad people” to strip them of the joy that comes with public service.

“Fight for the rule of law–to protect your country and to keep your job,” Comey said. “Don’t let the darkness of bad people steal the joy of public service. Sleep, love, laugh, and exercise because our country needs you over the long haul. Know that these people–some evil, most just followers too weak to stand up–will fade, but the need for your work will remain. Thank you for being light in the darkness.”

A message for my former colleagues at the FBI, DOJ, and US Attorney’s offices around the country.

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— James Comey (@jamescomey.bsky.social) February 1, 2025 at 10:51 AM

Comey’s firing came under the recommendation of former Attorney General Jeff Sessions and former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, whose office stated that “the FBI’s reputation and credibility [had] suffered substantial damage.” In 2019, the Justice Department’s inspector general stated in a report that Comey violated bureau policy by writing in “Secret” or “Confidential” information in four memos he wrote between Jan. 6, 2017, and April 11, 2017, following his conversations with Trump.

The former FBI director leaked some of his memos to his close personal friend, David Richman, with instructions to provide the information to The New York Times. He testified to the Senate Intelligence Committee in June 2017 that he directed Richman to share the information in order to trigger the appointment of a special counsel to oversee an investigation into the now-debunked allegations that Trump’s 2016 campaign colluded with the Russian government to influence the election.

The Justice Department declined to prosecute Comey for the leak of the memos.

Comey urged FBI agents in 2016 not to prosecute former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton during their investigation on whether she mishandled classified information on her private email server while she served as secretary of State during former President Barack Obama’s administration. The agency later concluded that while the use of the private server increased the risk of compromising classified information, they found no evidence “of systemic, deliberate mishandling of classified information.”