James Comey Weighing Hollywood Offers for Memoir

Former FBI Director James Comey, who was famously fired by President Donald Trump in May 2017, is considering selling the option to his hotly anticipated memoir, A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership, which publishes April 17.

Comey’s agents at D.C.-based Javelin, Matt Latimer and Keith Urbahn, were in Los Angeles last week fielding pitches, according to a source with knowledge of the visit. A film or TV deal wasn’t something Comey even thought about until a flood of people in Hollywood called and expressed interest after the book was announced in early August. Comey is said to be unsure if he’ll sell the option in the end.

Latimer and Urbahn met with agents, production companies and screenwriters to hear their pitches for the project, which involved both theatrical and television adaptations. Comey did not make the trip out last week, but if he decides to allow the project to advance, he’ll likely travel here sometime in the future.

Pre-orders for the book, which had been strong, took a huge leap over the weekend after Donald Trump attacked Comey by name in a pair of Saturday tweets.

In promos for the book, Comey is described as “sharing his never-before-told experiences from some of the highest-stakes situations of his career in the past two decades of American government, exploring what good, ethical leadership looks like, and how it drives sound decisions.” They call the story “an unprecedented entry into the corridors of power, and a remarkable lesson in what makes an effective leader.”

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