Kelly: In New Jersey, Comey keeps quiet while Trump tweets anew

Maybe this was bound to happen.

James Comey came back to his hometown of Allendale in northern Bergen County for a weekend visit with his elderly father and a much-needed escape from the rhetorical tumult of Washington and President Donald Trump's allegation that he lied in his recent testimony before a Senate committee investigating possible Russian meddling in last year’s presidential election.

But Trump was in New Jersey, too – and he had no intention of staying quiet during his own weekend at the golf club that bears his name, some 50 miles away from Allendale in Bedminster.

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What unfolded on Sunday was yet another example of the disjointed political maelstrom that has enveloped the nation in recent weeks as Trump has harshly criticized allegations that Russian intelligence operatives meddled in the 2016 presidential election – and a widening federal investigation that some Trump staffers may have colluded with the Russians.

Comey, especially in the wake of his testimony last week before the Senate Select Intelligence Committee, has emerged as a centerpiece of that debate – with supporters praising his candor and Trump offering as-yet-unfounded claims that the former FBI director lied and broke laws in releasing information.

And while Comey sought a short respite from the political and legal storms in the tight-knit hamlet of Allendale, the president in Bedminster did not.

Just after 8 a.m. Trump dialed up his Twitter account.

The president began by accusing the media of not reporting “the great economic news since Election Day.” Trump described this unreported news as a rising stock market, about 600,000 new jobs and 4.3 percent unemployment – all of which, incidentally, have been widely reported by the nation’s media for months.

Trump then switched targets – to Comey.

As with the president’s assessment of the news media’s reporting of the economy, Trump’s Sunday morning Twitter jab at Comey was a mixture of his own exaggerated view of real facts and apparent misinterpretation of laws over so-called “leaking” of information.

But Trump added yet another personal attack on the former FBI director, whom he fired last month.

“I believe the James Comey leaks will be far more prevalent than anyone ever thought possible,” Trump wrote in a tweet. “Totally illegal? Very 'cowardly!' "

Whether Comey knew of Trump’s latest rhetorical slap at him is unclear. As Trump was tweeting from Bedminster, Comey was at his family home in Allendale, preparing to go to Mass at the Roman Catholic parish he attended regularly as a boy.

After Mass at Guardian Angel Roman Catholic Church and a sermon by Deacon Rey Escalon on the Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinity concept of God, Comey declined to speak to a reporter from The Record as his 83-year-old father navigated a ramp using a walker.

“We’re just here to visit his dad,” said Comey’s wife, Patrice Failor, walking with her husband.

Dressed casually in tan slacks, a yellow sports shirt and wearing black sunglasses, Comey chatted with a few friends at the door of the church and posed for a photograph near the parking lot with several students from his alma mater, Northern Highlands Regional High School.

“We have to watch Dad, though,” Comey cautioned as he waited for his wife to take the photo. “We got to do it quickly. If Dad goes down behind me.”

Glancing up at the lanky Comey who towered above him, one of the Northern Highlands students asked how tall he was.

“Six-eight,” Comey said.

Then Comey and his wife helped his father into a car to return home.

Later, Comey's wife and several daughters – the couple have four daughters and a son – went to Manhattan to attend a performance of the Broadway musical “Waitress,” Comey’s father said. Around noon, Comey drove back alone to the family’s home near Washington.

But Comey’s father, J. Brien Comey Sr., a Republican who had served for most of the 1990s on the Allendale Borough Council but refused to vote for Trump in the presidential election and has emerged recently as an outspoken critic of Trump after the president fired his son, did not mince words about Trump.

Reached by phone, the elder Comey said Trump had stepped over a line in calling his son “cowardly.”

"Jim was not aware of what Trump said this morning,” the elder Comey said of Trump’s tweet. “It’s a good thing he didn’t know.”

Comey's father said the former FBI director felt he had spoken enough publicly for now. The elder Comey said his son preferred to allow a broad federal investigation to proceed into a variety of allegations, including the possibility that the president may have pressured him to drop an investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and alleged links between dismissed national security adviser Michael Flynn and Russia.

"He's holding up well – very well,” Comey’s father said. “He’s a happy camper. He wants to cool it for a while.”

The elder Comey said his son “literally enjoyed” his nationally televised testimony last week before the Senate Select Intelligence Committee. “He likes to bring people up to date on what he’s done,” Comey’s father said.

As for accusations that he leaked a personal memo of one of his conversations with Trump, Comey’s father said: “He just laughs when I talk about leaking. He turned over one of his own documents to a friend. That’s not leaking.”

In his latest Tweets, Trump did not mention Comey’s claim that Trump demanded loyalty from him in a series of uncomfortable private discussions, while also floating a none-too-subtle request to curtail the FBI’s investigation of Flynn. Last Friday, Trump disputed Comey’s claim that he had asked for a personal pledge of loyalty from the FBI director.

In recent days, Trump has focused on what he called “leaks” by Comey. But only one alleged leak by Comey occurred – and, as Comey’s father noted, it’s not entirely clear if it was a leak.

In his Senate testimony, Comey acknowledged that he was so concerned that Trump might falsely depict what took place in private conversations with him that he circulated information from his own unclassified notes to a friend at Columbia Law School, who then passed the information to the media. Trump – and his attorney – have branded this an illegal leak. Numerous legal experts disagree, citing the fact that the memo in question by Comey was actually notes to himself and was not classified.

In Allendale, Comey’s father said his son was weighing several job prospects, but was in no rush to find new work. The former FBI director seemed intent on touching his hometown roots – and also offering some thanks to supporters.

On Saturday, he dropped by the Allendale Bar and Grill, one of the borough’s most popular restaurants and a gathering spot last week for many supporters who watched Comey’s testimony on televisions there.

As he entered the bar on Saturday with his father, Comey asked for the bar’s co-owner, Chris Kunisch. But Kunisch was attending one of his children’s soccer games in Connecticut.

On Sunday, Kunisch was in a pew at the Guardian Angel Church. But he did not see Comey.

“I had my head down,” Kunisch said. “I was praying.”

Afterward, as Kunisch stood and left his pew to walk out of church, he found himself face-to-face with Comey.

“He sought me out to thank me for all the support,” Kunisch said. “It’s the true tale of the type of person that he is. When the dust settles, Jim Comey will be on top.”

Staff Writer Jai Agnish contributed reporting.

Kellym@northjersey.com