I don’t believe that former FBI Director James Comey took notes after he met with President Trump.

Comey testified that he woke up at three in the morning the Monday after he was fired by President Trump (who called him a ‘nut job’). His angst resulted from concerns of the public’s impression surrounding the facts of his firing.

He also testified that he had not kept notes on his meetings with any other president during his tenure at the FBI. When asked why he chose to take notes about his interactions with President Trump he called it a gut feeling “about the person.”

I believe he woke up at three in the morning a couple of days after being fired where it finally ‘hit him,’ the anger and rage. It’s my belief, at that moment, he actually began writing polarized notes reflecting on his weeks or month’s-ago meetings with Trump.

The Facts

First, if these notes were taken prior to his firing, they were FBI and federal property and he had no legal right to leak them to a friend and/or the press. They were sensitive and subject (at minimum) to executive privilege.

Second, the revelation that he woke up at 3 in the morning and ultimately made the decision to leak the notes to a friend at Columbia University established a pattern in that it almost infers that those notes didn’t exist prior to his firing, and therefore were not available to be preserved or discovered.

Third, the fact that he never took notes or reflections of other meetings with other presidents or White House officials indicates he wasn’t inclined to take notes after his meetings with President Trump either.

Finally, he testified in the spring of 2017 that there had been no attempts by anyone in the White House to impede or stop FBI investigations. He specifically said it “never occurred.”  He testified last week that he believed Trump was asking (or pushing) for the investigations to end simply by stating “he hoped” the Flynn investigation would end. This testimony is in direct contrast to his earlier testimony.

If he didn’t believe there was any undue influence on him this past Spring, then he wouldn’t have taken any notes prior to that testimony either.

Two Comey’s

Which Comey are we to believe? Do we believe the one who couldn’t ‘stand up’ to former Attorney General Loretta Lynch after she directed him to call the Hillary Clinton criminal investigation “a matter” using campaign talking points? This is the same Comey that wouldn’t ‘stand up’ to president Trump’s “inappropriate” advances about the Flynn investigation.  Or do we believe the new James Comey, the one without a job, who is upset and seeking revenge?

While I won’t call James Comey a “nut job,” he is definitely a passive-aggressive, self-righteous individual who acts with self-aggrandizement.  In other words he’s a “goody two-shoes” who wants everyone to like him and enjoys letting everyone know what a great person he is.

The first Comey who was, in his words, “weak” wanted to be liked and keep his job. The second Comey, who lost his job, wants revenge. That Comey’s inflated ego and perfectly crafted reputation was shattered when President Trump fired him for being incompetent and then tweeted about it.

The assertion that President Trump could have obstructed justice extends from his attempts to get Comey to inform the American people that he was not under investigation.

This may be hard to prove, but I’m convinced Comey woke up on the Monday following his firing, angry and disgusted, before writing these memos at 3 a.m. He believed their leakage would restore his reputation, ignite the need for a special counsel and ultimately resort in the best possible revenge against president Trump.

If I were in the Senate, I would have asked him if he thought those memos were government property or his property. He likely would have taken that bait and answered, “my property,” to which I would have asked: “Then you must have memorialized your Trump-meetings after you were fired, right?”

Assuming I’m correct, this would have a serious impact on the credibility of those memos.