FBI Director James Comey Confirmed As Speaker For Upcoming SXSW In Downtown Austin

AUSTIN, TX — As the lineup of speakers for the upcoming SXSWConference continues to build, organizers announced on Thursday they've landed FBI Director James Comey as a panelist.

According to organizers, Comey's presence at the March gathering is made possible through a partnership with the Newseum, a nonprofit public charity. Newseum CEO, Jeffrey Herbst, will be on the dais for the conversation related to cybersecurity with Comey.

“The Newseum is the premier national institution that promotes the freedoms of the First Amendment and the right of free expression,” Herbst in a prepared statement.“This year we will conduct a unique conversation examining the tensions between privacy and national security. Being able to share a high level conversation with FBI Director James Comey and the audience in Austin will help us all understand the challenges to our rights in the age of disruption.”

The SXSW session, FBI Director James Comey in Conversation with Jeffrey Herbst, CEO of the Newseum, is scheduled to take place March 13 at 5 p.m. at The Hilton in downtown Austin.

In the lead-up to the presidential campaign, Comey emerged as a polarizing figure after announcing his agency was reviewing newly discovered emails of one of Hillary Clinton's top aides, Huma Abedin, just two weeks before the general election. Two days before Americans went to the polls to pick a new president, Comey did a 180-degree turn, saying nothing had changed since July when he recommended no criminal charges be brought to the U.S. Department of Justice against Clinton.

Many believe Comey's atypical behavior — unorthodox for an agency that typically doesn't publicly comment on ongoing investigations — cost Clinton the election by casting doubts on her candidacy in the minds of voters. A recent Justice Department memo confirmed Comey would stay on as FBI director. He's currently in his fourth year of a standard 10-year term at the helm of the intelligence agency.

>>> Photo of FBI Director James Comey (right) and Newseum CEO Jeffrey Herbst courtesy SXSW