James Comey’s ‘Duty of Candor’ Was His Undoing

“The Department of Justice,” James Comey explained on Thursday evening, “has a duty of candor to the courts and to Congress.”

The former FBI director was talking about William Barr and the “less than honorable” way that Comey believes the attorney general described Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report—in Barr’s summary letter to Congress, during the press conference he held before releasing the redacted document to the public, and in a Senate hearing afterward. “His testimony was not candid,” Comey said.

Comey has as many detractors as, and possibly more than, Barr does, but credibly accusing him of not being candid is hard. Indeed, Comey’s steadfast commitment to “a duty of candor” explains a lot about his rocky career in public life, both where he went right and where he arguably went