Comey’s Friend Benjamin Wittes Was Key Media Source

Image by Twitter

By Daniel J. Solomon May 19, 2017

As the media reveal more information about the tormented relationship between President Trump and fired FBI director James Comey, some of the best tidbits are coming from his friend Benjamin Wittes.

Wittes, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and founder of the popular Lawfare blog, admitted that he was the principal source for a story in The New York Times this Friday.

Wittes, who was raised Jewish and attended religious day school, dished about Comey’s discomfort with Trump’s attempts to court him and pressure him into shutting down investigations into ties between Trump associates and Russia.

In a blog post on Thursday, Wittes explained that he was going public because he thought Americans needed to hear the information -– and also because he did not want the administration to think that Comey was the one leaking to the media.

According to Wittes, he and Comey aren’t the best of friends. But they talk.

“We’re friends. We communicate regularly, but I am not among his close intimates or advisers,” he wrote.

“That said, sometimes, as friends do, we have lunch, and when we do so, we talk about things of mutual interest.”

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at solomon@forward.com or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon

Daniel J. Solomon is the former Assistant to the Editor/News Writer at the Forward. Originally from Queens, he attended Harvard as an undergraduate, where he wrote his senior thesis on French-Jewish intellectual history. He is excited to have returned to New York after his time in Massachusetts. Daniel’s passions include folk music, cycling, and pointed argument.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO