WHY WOULD ANYONE TAKE ANYTHING HE SAYS SERIOUSLY?:

The F.B.I. released the results of three years of internal questionnaires in response to a public records request by The New York Times. The surveys revealed that agents around the country gave the F.B.I. leadership high marks -- 4.01 on a scale of 5 -- in this year's survey. The F.B.I. considers scores over 3.81 an indication of success.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly cast Mr. Comey in a negative light.

"He's a showboat, he's a grandstander, the F.B.I. has been in turmoil," Mr. Trump said of Mr. Comey in an NBC interview in May. "You know that. I know that. Everybody knows that. You take a look at the F.B.I. a year ago, it was in virtual turmoil, less than a year ago. It hasn't recovered from that."

The F.B.I. surveys show no support for that claim. They scored him above 4 as both an inspiring leader and someone more interested in leading than being liked. His direct subordinates rated him 4.48 on the question of whether they would work with him again.

While Mr. Comey's marks fell slightly in some categories over his three-year tenure, his scores were consistently high in each year and in nearly every area. Nationwide, agents gave higher marks to Mr. Comey's leadership team in 2017 than they gave to Mr. Mueller, who preceded him as director and whose tenure is widely respected.

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