This time around, the Department of Justice is going hard against disgraced ex-FBI Director James Comey.

Not only is he facing potential decades behind bars, but he could also suffer a significant financial loss.

As part of the indictment, Comey could lose any profit he made from selling his latest crime book, titled FDR Drive.

His infamous “86 47” post was posted just days before the novel’s release, and the DOJ argues that the stunt was made in an effort to drum up book sales.

Therefore, any money Comey made from the book might be seized by the DOJ.

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Take a look at the forfeiture notice here:

Hopefully, Comey still thinks this cheap marketing gimmick to boost sales of his lousy book was worth it now that he is facing up to 20 years in prison…

Flashback to this moment, where Comey was confronted about his veiled death threat to our POTUS during a book signing event:

IT’S OFFICIAL: James Comey stands to LOSE his BOOK SALE PROFITS if convicted by the Trump DOJ, because he launched it right after calling to ‘8647’ President Trump

GOOD! SEIZE IT ALL!

Epic confrontation at his book event: “Why do you want to 86 Trump?

COMEY: “Alright…”

FOX: “Director?”

COMEY: “I’m not taking questions like that.”

FOX: “Why would you post that?”

“Can you sign my sea shell too? Which beach do you find a Kamala sea shell, an 8647 seas hell?” — May 2025

🤣🤣🤣

COMEY MUST BE LOCKED UP!

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By the way, James Comey’s latest book didn’t do quite as well as he probably wanted.

Whereas his memoir sold hundreds of thousands of copies in its first week, he hasn’t been nearly as successful as a fiction author.

But hey, a couple hundred bucks is still a couple hundred bucks!

All jokes aside, it remains to be seen exactly how much revenue the DOJ could seize from Comey.

Grok shared some numbers and provided some estimates:

No specific public sales figures (like exact copies sold or first-week numbers) are widely reported for James Comey’s FDR Drive (published May 20, 2025, by Mysterious Press/Penzler Publishers), the third novel in his Nora Carleton legal thriller series.
Unlike his 2018 memoir A Higher Loyalty, which generated massive media coverage and a reported 600,000+ copies sold in its first week (across print, ebook, and audio), his fiction books—including FDR Drive, its predecessor Westport (2024), and debut Central Park West (2023)—have not produced comparable headline-grabbing sales data.

What we know:

  • FDR Drive received positive reviews (e.g., a starred review in Publishers Weekly calling it his “strongest outing yet” with a “ripped-from-the-headlines plot” that “never loses steam”). It was promoted with book signings and media appearances, and it appeared on some independent bestseller or top-seller lists in passing mentions.
  • The earlier novels in the series were described as “national bestsellers” in promotional material, but without quantified numbers.
  • Crime fiction from a celebrity author like Comey typically sells in the tens of thousands rather than hundreds of thousands for later entries in a series, especially without the political firestorm that boosted his memoir. First-week or total sales for FDR Drive (now nearly a year old as of April 2026) have not been publicly broken out by the publisher or tracked in major outlets like the New York Times bestseller reports in a way that made headlines.

Rough estimate of copies sold:

A reasonable estimate for FDR Drive total sales (print + ebook + audio, through early 2026) would likely be in the range of 20,000–80,000 copies in the US, possibly higher if it had strong library/ international pickup or benefited from series momentum and Comey’s name recognition. This is speculative—mid-list or “national bestseller” thrillers from non-A-list fiction authors often land in this ballpark without massive marketing pushes. The first book in the series (Central Park West) probably did the best of the three due to novelty, with subsequent ones tapering off.

Revenue estimate:

  • List price: Hardcover ~$30.
  • Publisher revenue: At a typical wholesale discount (50–55% off list to retailers), the publisher might gross ~$13–15 per copy sold before returns, printing, distribution, and other costs.
  • Author earnings: Advances for Comey’s fiction deal were not publicly detailed (unlike the reported ~$2 million+ for his memoir). Royalties are usually 10–15% of list (or net) for hardcovers after the advance earns out. For a series book from a smaller imprint like Mysterious Press, the advance per title was likely modest (low six figures or less).

Estimated gross publisher revenue from FDR Drive sales:

Roughly $300,000 – $1.2 million (very broad range), depending on actual volume, format mix, and returns. Comey’s personal earnings from royalties would be a fraction after the advance, marketing, and agent fees—likely far less than from his memoir.
This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.
 

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