The White House released declassified FBI memos on Wednesday. These memos reveal an investigation into whether President Donald Trump’s firing of James Comey was linked to Russia. The investigation operated under a misspelled code name, ‘Oxferd Comma.’
Former acting Assistant Attorney General Jeff Clark asserted that the code name’s misspelling was intentional. Clark, now with the Oversight Project, claimed, ‘The FBI under James Comey and Christopher Wray was corrupt. They created an investigation into Trump as a possible Russian agent in response to Comey’s firing.’
‘They called it OXFERD C0MMA, using a zero for the ‘o’ and misspelling the university. They thought this was clever, like a James Bond movie villain evading the Freedom of Information Act,’ he added.
An FBI memo from May 16, 2017, detailed the investigation’s goal to assess if Trump coordinated activities with Russia, posing a national security threat or violating federal criminal laws. Trump fired Comey in May 2017, initially over Comey’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation. Days later, the ‘Oxferd Comma’ probe began to examine any Russian connections.
Clark noted on social media that he consulted a document expert. The expert found that the ‘o’ in ‘Comma’ was actually a zero, further obscuring the probe’s name. ‘James Comey was known for liking Oxford commas, and this operation might be a nod to him. But the deliberate misspelling remains unexplained,’ Clark continued. He suggested the misspelling could complicate record searches, potentially allowing denials of relevant FOIA records.
The code name ‘Oxferd Comma’ drew attention on social media. Users revisited a 2017 post by Comey about Oxford commas. ‘Check the actual cover. I’m all about Oxford commas,’ Comey wrote then, referencing his upcoming memoir.
The FBI’s response did not address the code name directly. Ben Williamson, assistant director of the FBI’s Office of Public Affairs, stated, ‘The actions against President Trump were inexcusable. Director Patel was the lead investigator revealing the Crossfire Hurricane scandal, releasing extensive documents on former FBI leadership malfeasance.’
‘Any individual found acting unethically or engaging in weaponization has been or will be fired and held accountable,’ Williamson added.