WHAT'S FALSE
Comey's attorney says they are not "best friends", and government ethics experts say the relationship doesn't rise to the level of an illegal conflict in relation to the investigation in any case.
ORIGIN
On 12 June 2017, Breitbart.com published a story reporting that former Assistant FBI Director James Kallstrom had told them that fired Federal Bureau of Investigation director James Comey is “best friends” with Robert Mueller, a former Bureau director who has been appointed special counsel to lead an investigation into alleged collusion between Russia and the campaign of President Donald Trump. Further, he reportedly told them, that relationship presents a conflict of interest which is hampering the Russia probe:
Bob Mueller and Jim Comey are the best of friends and have been for over two decades. How do you appoint a special counsel who is a longtime friend? It’s a massive conflict of interest.
Breitbart also cited a piece written by journalist Garrett Graff in Politico magazine, in which Graff describes the pair’s working relationship:
While Mueller technically reported to Comey as deputy attorney general, Comey, two decades his junior, treated Mueller as a close friend and almost mentor. The men had known each other for years as each rose into the small, elite fraternity of prosecutors at the top of the Justice Department
As to Kallstrom’s comment, it should be clarified: Comey didn’t appoint Mueller — he had been fired by the time Mueller was brought on board by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
We spoke to Comey’s attorney, who said the extent of the friendship between the two men has been exaggerated. We also consulted experts about whether a past friendship could present a perception of a current conflict. As the term “perception” implies, the answer to that question is subjective.
David Kelley, Comey’s attorney, said the idea that Comey is “best friends” with Mueller is an overstatement. He said the two have a genial relationship as former colleagues — both men have long legal careers that involve overlapping time spent working within the Department of Justice. Their history is even well-documented by the news media. But Kelley pointed out they are not close personal friends:
Jim and Bob are friends in the sense that co-workers are friends. They don’t really have a personal relationship. Jim has never been to Bob’s house and Bob has never been to Jim’s house. … They’ve had lunch together once, dinner together twice, once with their spouses and once after Jim became FBI director so Bob could give him a run-down on what to look out for. [Bob] is not a mentor. He’s friendly, as colleagues are.
http://www.snopes.com/comey-mueller-besties/