Five weeks after announcing an appearance at SXSW, FBI Director James Comey has pulled out of the festival due to “scheduling conflicts that will keep him in Washington D.C.,” as a press release put it.
Comey was scheduled to speak with Newseum CEO Jeffrey Herbst at a panel on “the tensions between privacy and national security.” FBI General Counsel James Baker will replace Comey on the panel.
Comey’s willingness to appear SXSW at all surprised many because of the fall-out from his hastily-announced, last-minute investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails, which helped sway the election in favor of Donald Trump.
FBI Director Comey just pulled out of his appearance at #SXSW pic.twitter.com/qEW08O1P9l
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) March 7, 2017