Comey unmasks himself in a series of tweets sent from Iowa, prompting speculation he could be gearing up for a new political career

Former FBI director James Comey has outed himself on Twitter as the person behind the account of Reinhold Niebuhr.

Speculation had been rife that Comey was the owner of the account after Gizmodo writer Ashley Feinberg in March followed a trail of crumbs that ended with Niebuhr’s private account.

The trail got much warmer after Niebuhr tweeted an Anchorman meme with the slogan “Actually I am not even mad, that’s amazing” and a link to the FBI jobs page.

The only thing missing was explicit confirmation from Comey, which came on Monday when, tweeting from Iowa, he posted a picture of himself standing in the middle of a road with sunglasses on, looking out across cornfields.

Reinhold Niebuhr (@FormerBu) Goodbye Iowa. On the road home. Gotta get back to writing. Will try to tweet in useful ways. pic.twitter.com/DCbu3Yvqt3

Shortly later a friend of Comey’s confirmed that the account did belong to the former FBI chief.

Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) Ok, in light of this latest tweet, I will confirm that @FormerBu is, in fact, James Comey himself. https://t.co/6QbhOG7Qzp

Comey, who has remained out of the public eye since he was fired by Donald Trump in May, is currently writing a book about his time in government.

On Friday, he had tweeted about how good it was to be back in the Hawkeye State, which is the site of the primaries and a key swing state.

Reinhold Niebuhr (@FormerBu) Good to be back in Iowa. pic.twitter.com/TGJHOhQ9KF

Over the weekend, Comey had been seen dining at 801 Chophouse in Des Moines, the must-stop steakhouse for the political elite eyeing the state’s quadrennial presidential caucuses.

However, Comey was not, it appears, taking the fledgling steps of those who would seek the office Trump now holds. He was visiting his in-laws.



Damon Murphy, general manager of 801 Chophouse, said Comey was visiting with his wife Patrice, an Iowa native, whose father was celebrating his 90th birthday. Murphy said Comey and party “quietly enjoyed their meal.”

Associated Press contributed to this report

