FBI director James Comey: 'I hate the New England Patriots'

Jay Busbee
· Senior writer
FBI Director James Comey is seated at House Intelligence Committee hearing into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., March 20, 2017. (Photo: Joshua Roberts/Reuters)
FBI Director James Comey is seated at House Intelligence Committee hearing into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., March 20, 2017. (Photo: Joshua Roberts/Reuters)

Yes, that’s a photograph of FBI Director James Comey. No, you didn’t click on a news story by mistake; this is still Yahoo SPORTS. Let’s explain.

Comey was on Capitol Hill Monday morning to dispute and dismiss President Trump’s allegation that President Obama wiretapped Trump’s offices during the election. “With respect to the president’s tweets about alleged wiretapping directed at him by the prior administration, I have no information that supports those tweets,” Comey said. (For the full story on Comey’s appearance before the House Intelligence Committee, click here for Yahoo NEWS.)

As for the sports section of Comey’s hearing: in addition to a bit of a tangled Texas/Texas Tech analogy, the Patriots got a bit of a run.

Comey, explaining how the Russians viewed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, said, “I hate the New England Patriots, and no matter who they play I’d like them to lose.” The Russians viewed Clinton with similar hatred, and therefore favored Donald Trump’s candidacy simply because Trump was the Republican nominee. (Spoiler: Trump won.)

Comey later elaborated on his “Patriots” remark by noting “They represent sustained excellence, and as a Giants fan that drives me crazy.” Fair enough. Comey’s testimony came on the day that the FBI and the NFL announced that they had recovered a jersey stolen from Tom Brady after Super Bowl LI, and Comey accepted congratulations for that effort before returning to discussion about Russian connections to the 2016 election.

Man, America is in one hell of a weird place.
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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports and the author of EARNHARDT NATION, on sale now at Amazon or wherever books are sold. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.