Can James Comey Untangle the Trump-Russia Allegations?

James Comey spends a lot of time away from Washington, D.C., and despite what you might have read, it’s not because he has no friends left there. Comey travels, a lot, all over the country. After the U.S. Senate confirmed him in 2013 as the director of the FBI, he resolved to visit each of the agency’s 56 field offices. “He did not want to just be sitting behind glass doors at FBI headquarters,” says Michael Steinbach, who retired in February as the FBI’s executive assistant director overseeing national security. “He wanted to get out.” And he isn’t just racking up frequent-flier miles—he talks to his agents and solicits their thoughts and concerns.

At those field offices, Comey tells agents the anecdote about how during a visit to a NASA facility, President John F. Kennedy asked a custodian, “What’s your job here?” and the custodian replied, “I’m helping to put a man on the moon.” David Johnson, who retired in December as the FBI’s associate executive assistant director for the Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services Branch (CCRSB), says Comey uses that perhaps apocryphal tale to underscore his fervent belief that working for the bureau has a single mission—protecting Americans from the bad guys. “He’s trying to get buy-in from the entire organization