You can almost feel the excitement brewing already. Check with your local or online ticket scalping outlets if you want to attend because this one will be sure to sell out fast. I’m speaking, of course, of CNN’s next big town hall event featuring none other than former FBI honcho and new author, James Comey. Doing the honors of hosting this gala will be Anderson Cooper. (The Hill)
Former FBI Director James Comey will sit down for a CNN town hall on April 25, the network announced on Wednesday
“The one-hour primetime Town Hall, moderated by CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, will be live from Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall at Comey’s alma mater, William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and will be co-hosted by the Student Assembly at William & Mary,” reads the release from CNN’s public relations.
“Following the release of Comey’s book, A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies & Leadership, Cooper will moderate a conversation between Comey and a live audience as they discuss his FBI career, his public firing and the high profile cases he oversaw including the bureau’s handling of the Hillary Clinton e-mail investigation and potential ties between the Trump campaign and Russia,” it continues.
Are there some new, big revelations coming which are of interest to the public and have heretofore been hidden? Whether the answer to that question turns out to be yes or no, the result could be quite bad. It’s relatively easy to conclude that this isn’t really a “town hall” they’re planning quite so much as a promotional stop for Comey’s book tour. It’s featured prominently in the linked article above and CNN seems to be anticipating the release with great gusto.
In addition to the town hall, Comey will be sitting down for an interview with Jake Tapper the week before, as well as doing scheduled chats with Bret Baier, George Stephanopoulos and others. That’s what makes me think that this is all part of a roadshow which is more promotion than revelation.
With that in mind, let’s circle back to that question about whether or not there’s really anything new to hear from Mr. Comey. Do you recall this tweet that he sent out earlier this month?
“Mr. President, the American people will hear my story very soon. And they can judge for themselves who is honorable and who is not.”
Comey either has something new and relevant to the entire affair with both Trump and Hillary Clinton or he doesn’t. If there’s nothing new of any substance then he was just tossing out some red meat to build buzz for his book. Nothing really wrong with that aside from disappointing your readers a bit. The guy obviously wants to sell as many copies as he can.
But what if he actually does have some blockbuster information? Are you telling me that he’s been sitting on relevant details affecting one or possibly two major FBI investigations and news coverage which launched an epic debate across the country and he made everyone wait to hear it until we paid him for it in the form of book sales? At that point, at least as far as I’m concerned, the credibility train has pretty much pulled out of the station.
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