Comey violated FBI policy but won’t be prosecuted
Former FBI Director James Comey violated bureau policy but didn’t break the law by feeding a memo about a private conversation with President Donald Trump to the press, the Justice Department’s inspector general said yesterday.
In a long-awaited report on the May 2017 leak, Inspector General Michael Horowitz concluded Comey broke with FBI protocol by sending the memo to his attorney along with instructions to share its contents with a reporter.
However, as the document did not contain classified material, Horowitz reiterated the Justice Department’s decision earlier this month that it won’t prosecute Comey over the misstep.
In the memo, Comey detailed a meeting he had with Trump at the White House in February 2017, during which the president infamously suggested the FBI drop its investigation into his then-national security adviser, Michael Flynn, who had lied to federal agents about his conversations with Russia’s US ambassador. According to the memo, Trump told Comey he ‘‘hoped’’ the FBI could see to ‘‘letting Flynn go’’ because he’s a ‘‘good guy.’’ Flynn ended up pleading guilty to lying to the FBI after special counsel Robert Mueller picked up that investigation following Comey’s axing.
In addition to the leaked document, Horowitz gave Comey a slap on the wrist for failing to inform the FBI after Trump fired him in March 2017 that he had other memos detailing conversations with the president stowed away in a safe at his home.
Horowitz did not hide his distaste for Comey’s unauthorised leak, charging the FBI ‘‘depends’’ on the safeguarding of ‘‘sensitive information.’’ ‘‘Comey failed to live up to this responsibility,’’ the IG wrote. ‘‘Comey set a dangerous example for the over 35,000 current FBI employees – and the many thousands more former FBI employees – who similarly have access to or knowledge of non-public information.’’ Horowitz noted that Comey had testified before Congress that he leaked the Trump memo because he wanted to ensure that a special counsel was appointed to investigate the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia and whether it played part in the Kremlin’s attack on the 2016 election.
However, ‘‘Comey had several other lawful options available to advocate for the appointment of a special counsel,’’ Horowitz said.
‘‘What was not permitted was the unauthorised disclosure of sensitive investigative information, obtained during the course of FBI employment, in order to achieve a personally desired outcome,’’ Horowitz said.
Comey cherry-picked the IG’s findings. ‘‘DOJ IG ‘found no evidence that Comey or his attorneys released any of the classified information contained in any of the memos to members of the media,’’’ he tweeted shortly after the report was released.
‘‘I don’t need a public apology from those who defamed me, but a quick message with a ‘sorry we lied about you’ would be nice,’’ the exG-man continued. – TNS