James Comey has maintained a limited public presence since Trump fired him as FBI leader in May. | Alex Brandon/AP James Comey unveils new public Twitter handle

James Comey revealed a new Twitter handle in a post Monday, increasing his public exposure after months of maintaining a low profile following his dismissal as FBI director by President Donald Trump.

"Here’s my new handle. Glad to be part of the Twitterverse," Comey wrote as his first post on the verified @Comey Twitter handle.


Comey previously masked his identity on the social networking site, presenting himself as Twitter user Reinhold Niebuhr, after the late and influential American theologian.

"Grateful to Reinhold for the cover these last few years," Comey added in his post Monday.

Comey has maintained a limited public presence since being fired as FBI leader in May. The highly publicized ouster came as Comey was spearheading a federal inquiry into ties between the 2016 Trump presidential campaign and Russian operatives, an investigation now led by special counsel Robert Mueller.

Comey's secretive Twitter identity was revealed in a post last month, with the former FBI director posting a picture of himself from the Niebuhr account.

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"Goodbye Iowa. On the road home," Comey tweeted, accompanied by a picture of himself standing in the middle of a country road. "Gotta get back to writing. Will try to tweet in useful ways."

The post was later verified by Comey’s friend and Lawfare editor-in-chief Benjamin Wittes.