FBI Director James Comey sits at the center of a number of contentious political storylines right now. But yesterday, Gizmodo allegedly figured out another, more frivolous role he’s been secretly playing—that of social media user. According to an incredibly detailed investigative report, Gizmodo claims it identified Comey’s Instagram and Twitter accounts, which he mentioned during a talk at the Intelligence National Security Alliance.
Fun fact: #FBI director James #Comey is on twitter & apparently on Instagram with nine followers. pic.twitter.com/lDIFirzVeh
— Kevin Rincon (@KevRincon) March 30, 2017
Ashley Feinberg, a senior reporter for the Gizmodo Special Projects Desk, set out to track down Comey’s accounts after his admission. She wasn’t able to land on his Instagram page, but she did allegedly find his secret Twitter account based on just a few facts that he relayed in his speech.
The account called “Reinhold Niebuhr,” with a handle of @projectexile7, had just one follower as of yesterday. At press time, that number has jumped to 8,278. The one person who was following it at the time? Benjamin Wittes, editor of Lawfare, who is apparently a friend of Comey’s.
Of course, it has yet to be confirmed whether the account is, in fact, Comey’s, and it remains to be seen what sort of blowback this could cause him (if any). Interestingly, of the 39 stories the account had liked, eight are specific to Comey, with a ninth referring to an active FBI investigation.
Last year, Comey received criticism for how he handled a case against then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton regarding her use of a private family email server while U.S. Secretary of State.
—RealClearLife
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