Yeah, that secret Twitter account actually does belong to James Comey

The truth comes out in Iowa.
 By 
Nicole Gallucci
 on 
Yeah, that secret Twitter account actually does belong to James Comey
Former FBI Director James Comey. Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

UPDATE: Monday Nov. 6, 2017 (10:30 a.m.ET): After two weeks, Comey officially changed the account, now verified, to @Comey and confirmed it was all his. Included was a new banner image promoting his upcoming book.

As of this update, he is still not following Trump on Twitter.


Twitter's about to get even more interesting for Donald Trump.

After a Gizmodo article published in March prompted months of speculation as to whether or not former FBI Director James Comey has a secret Twitter account, the rumors have finally been put to rest.

Yes everyone, today it was revealed that Twitter user Reinhold Niebuhr is in fact Comey himself.

Gizmodo elicited the theory about Comey's account after writer Ashley Feinberg searched the social presence of the former FBI director's family members back in the spring. In her search, Feinberg followed an elaborate Instagram trail that led to a Twitter account for someone named "Reinhold Niebuhr."

Since the super sleuthing took place, the account's original handle, @projectexile7, was changed to @FormerBu and has been sporadically posting boring/soothing nature images of the Hudson River, historical landmarks in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and fields and migrating white pelicans in Iowa.

However, on Monday, Niebuhr tweeted a picture of Comey wearing running shoes, standing in the middle of an Iowa road, captioned, "Goodbye Iowa. On the road home. Gotta get back to writing. Will try to tweet in useful ways."

A few minutes after the photo was shared Lawfare editor Benjamin Wittes, a friend of Comey's who's publicly spoken about him in the past and was mentioned in the Gizmodo article, confirmed the account belongs to Comey. And Twitter went wild with analysis.

So Comey, are you trying to send us a message with those hot New Balance kicks? Are you RUNNING for office in the future? Twitter seems to think so.

Welp, now that we know for sure this is Comey we can all go back and give his first tweet (a freaking Anchorman meme) the proper praise it deserves.

And as for Trump? Looks like your Twitter competition just got even more intense.

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Nicole Gallucci

Nicole is a Senior Editor at Mashable. She primarily covers entertainment and digital culture trends, and in her free time she can be found watching TV, sending voice notes, or going viral on Twitter for admiring knitwear. You can follow her on Twitter @nicolemichele5.

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