In June 2015, Donald Trump famously descended that golden escalator in New York City’s Trump Tower and announced he was running for president. Sometime later in that same year, according to an FBI whistleblower, then-director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation James Comey set in motion an “off-the-books” operation to infiltrate the future president’s campaign. That whistleblower’s “protected disclosure” to the House Judiciary Committee in 2024 became an exclusive for The Washington Times. The paper is now reporting that the FBI, under new leadership, has opened an investigation into Comey’s secret scheme to spy on Trump’s campaign.
According to the whistleblower’s disclosure, reviewed by the Times, Comey assigned two female FBI agents to infiltrate the Trump campaign in a “honeypot” operation – a storied piece of spy craft that involves agents, usually female, using romance or sometimes just sex to gather intelligence.
No criminal activity was suspected, and no case file was created. This was, essentially, a fishing expedition to see what, if anything, could be used against then-candidate Trump. According to the paper, this whistleblower is, or was, an FBI agent who “personally knew” Comey initiated the operation and directed it personally.
The FBI is now working to identify one of the two undercover agents who was apparently later promoted to a senior position and is currently with a “major” FBI field office. The other agent transferred to the CIA, allegedly so that she could be shielded from being called as a witness, should the matter come under investigation.
The whistleblower further revealed that Michael Horowitz, the Justice Department’s inspector general, was never informed of Comey’s scheme. The operation was shut down after a prominent newspaper obtained a photograph of one of the undercover agents. The FBI managed to stop the paper from publishing the picture by claiming she was an informant whose safety might be compromised. Everyone involved was sworn to secrecy.
In 2016, on Comey’s watch, the FBI launched Crossfire Hurricane, the now-discredited counterintelligence operation that sought to uncover collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government to influence the presidential election. That effort proved fruitless, and a subsequent special counsel probe found no evidence of such a conspiracy.
Comey, who was eventually fired by then-President Trump, has been a vocal critic of the 45th and now 47th commander-in-chief. More recently, he has been encouraging federal employees to resist the current administration’s efforts to downsize the government workforce. In particular, the former FBI director is not happy that Trump has ordered the firing of Justice Department prosecutors and FBI agents involved in going after Jan. 6 protesters.
“Fight for the rule of law — to protect your country and to keep your jobs,” Comey wrote in a Feb. 2 social media post directed at DOJ and FBI personnel. “Don’t let the darkness of bad people steal the joy of public service.” In a clear reference to the Trump administration, he added, “Know that these people, some evil, most just followers too weak to stand up, will fade, but the need for your work will remain.”
Kash Patel, who was recently sworn in as the ninth director of the FBI, has vowed to get the Bureau back on mission. Patel has long been a critic of the apparent political weaponization of America’s premier law enforcement agency. If The Washington Times report is accurate and James Comey is the target of an investigation, most of the president’s supporters will probably view it as a richly deserved dose of karma.