Who is Patrice Failor, James Comey’s Wife?
Ousted FBI Director James Comey is slated to give his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee Thursday. After he was fired May 9, he is set to testify about his relationship with President Donald Trump, the possible collusion between Russian and the Trump campaign and Russia and many other pressing issues. What some people might want to know, however, is Comey’s other half, his wife, Patrice Failor.
Failor, 57, and Comey, 56, are high school sweethearts. The met when they were freshmen at William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia in 1978, the Daily Press reported. They married in 1987.
READ: What James Comey Will Say At Hearing About Trump, Russia And Mike Flynn
“Jim Comey has made his alma mater enormously proud yet again,” William and Mary President Taylor Reveley said to the Daily Press when President Barack Obama nominated him to be FBI director in 2013. “President Obama has nominated Mr. Comey to lead an agency whose effectiveness and integrity are vitally important to our country. Jim's willingness to return to public service in this crucial post is quite wonderful.”
Comey “paid tribute to his wife,” after he was nominated, according to Westport Now.
“Nearly everything I am and have done in my adult life is due to the great good fortune of marrying up,” he said.
“Thanks to the love and support, and occasional constructive criticism of my beloved troops, of my amazing wife, Patrice, and Abby, Claire, Brien, Kate and Maurene, I am a much better person that I would have been without you. I love you guys. I have a debt. I cannot repay you, but thank you for that.
A combination photo shows President Donald Trump in the House of Representatives on Feb. 28, 2017, and then-FBI Director James Comey on July 7, 2016, both in Washington, D.C. Photo: Reuters
They have been married since 1987 and share six children together. One of them tragically died.
Collin died when he was 9 days old from a Group B strep infection, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported in 1995. Failor responded to the child’s death by writing a op-ed column for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. She “lobbied in support of screening for the bacteria during pregnancy,” the publication wrote.
“MY BABY DIED a month ago today. He was nine days old. Collin Edward Comey was killed by a preventable infection. I am sharing our tragedy so other mothers’ babies might be saved,” Failor wrote. “The kids prayed for him and kissed my tummy good night before being tucked in each night. They helped me prepare Collin’s baby clothes.”
The Comeys moved to Virigina because Failor didn’t like living in New York. “My wife wasn’t digging New York,” James Comey told New York Magazine.
READ: Will Donald Trump Be Impeached? Approval Rating Drops Again After Comey Firing
While Comey was set to give his testimony live Thursday, the full text of his speech was released the day before. It’s a lengthy piece where he talks about meeting Trump for the first time Jan. 6 and how their relationship progressed until April 11.
It ended after Trump requested that Comey find a way to “get out” word that he wasn't being investigated by the FBI.
“'Because I have been very loyal to you, very loyal; we had that thing you know,’” Trump apparently said to Comey. “I did not reply or ask him what he meant by ‘that thing.’ I said only that the way to handle it was to have the White House Counsel call the Acting Deputy Attorney General. He said that was what he would do and the call ended.”
Former FBI director James Comey and his wife, Patrice Failor, pictured next to former President Barack Obama in Washington, DC, October 28, 2013, have been married for nearly 30 years. Photo: Getty Images
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