James Comey's secret Twitter account tracked down by journalist -FBI chief responds perfectly

You may have thought that FBI Director James Comey may have been a little miffed when what appeared to be his secret Twitter account was revealed. Not a bit of it.

In fact, he - or rather “Reinhold Niebuhr”, user of the handle @ProjectExile - responded in style. He posted an image from the movie Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, with the now classic line delivered by Will Ferrell - “Heck, I’m not even mad, that’s amazing!”

What is believed to be Mr Comey’s Twitter account was discovered by Gizmodo reporter Ashley Feinberg, who was inspired to start sleuthing after the FBI chief delivered a speech at the Intelligence and National Security Alliance leadership dinner, in which he said he had both a secret Twitter and Instagram account.

In a long story cut short, Ms Feinberg followed a series of clues, including a comment from Mr Comey that suggested he was new to Twitter, and that his Instagram account had just nine followers, which included some relatives and the boyfriend of one of his daughters.

Ms Feinberg searched for Mr Comey’s family members, and discovered a tweet from his 22-year-old son, Brien Comey, who was a student basketball player at Kenyon College, Ohio.

Ms Feinberg used a fake Instagram to request access to Brien Comey’s account, and when she did, her recommended follows included Patrice Comey, who is James Comey’s wife.

“Of course, none of this is definitive proof @projectexile7 is FBI Director James Comey, but it would take a nearly impossible confluence of coincidences for it to be anyone else,” wrote Ms Feinberg.

“Take what you will from the fact that the director of the FBI appears to have liked a tweet from the New York Times about Mike Flynn and Jared Kushner meeting a Russian envoy in December.”

She added: “In the meantime, @projectexile7, I would love a follow.”