Saving Justice summary

Introduction

Saving Justice by James Comey. Trust in the Department of Justice is a vital reservoir that must be continually earned, protected, and replenished. What makes an institution worthy of public trust? For James Comey, the answer lies in what its people do when truth, politics, and personal interests collide.

His career reveals how justice depends on independence, transparency, humility, and a willingness to admit mistakes. It also shows how quickly public trust can disappear when those principles are compromised.

earning the reservoir of trust

Earning the Reservoir of Trust. When James Comey was 25 and fresh out of law school, he got lucky. He landed a clerkship with newly appointed federal judge John M. Walker Jr.

in New York City. Walker was the cousin of Vice President George Herbert Walker Bush. The job gave Comey an opportunity to observe many different lawyers. He soon noticed that federal prosecutors seemed different.

They were well-dressed, confident, humble, respectful. More importantly, people seemed to trust them before they even entered the courtroom. Their words were more readily accepted as truthful. Even opposing lawyers showed unusual deference toward attorneys representing the Department of Justice.

A year later, Comey joined the DOJ as a junior federal prosecutor in New York. There, he began to understand the source of that respect. Federal prosecutors were not supposed to be motivated by politics or money. They were supposed to stand apart from partisan interests.

They prosecuted cases because they believed justice required prosecution. But maintaining that ideal was not always simple. Comey describes public confidence in the DOJ as a reservoir of trust. Prosecutors, FBI agents, and department leaders replenish it by demonstrating commitment to truth and fairness.

When they abandon those commitments, they drain it. Comey learned this lesson early through the case of Henry Fleet. Henry became caught in a drug investigation involving cocaine and a major Colombian dealer. His own involvement was minor.

He had simply given an informant the name of a drug dealer he knew. That information eventually led the DEA to the Colombian dealer. Under conspiracy law, however, Henry could still be prosecuted. Comey did not believe pursuing him was right.

His superiors disagreed. Their boss, Rudy Giuliani, was running for mayor on a tough-on-crime platform. Every drug case was expected to be prosecuted aggressively. Comey followed orders.

But the jury acquitted Henry. Comey came away with a lesson that shaped the rest of his career. He resolved never again to prosecute a case he did not believe should be prosecuted.