Leaks blamed on fired FBI director
Trump lawyer says press disclosures ‘ unauthorized’
While President Trump stayed unusually silent on James Comey, his lawyer stressed Thursday that Comey’s testimony proved that Trump did not collude with Russia during last year’s election or try to obstruct justice in the FBI investigation — and went on to accuse the former FBI director of directing unauthorized news leaks designed to damage the president.
Comey’s testimony, attorney Marc Kasowitz said, “makes clear that the president never sought to impede the investigation into attempted Russian interference in the 2016 election.”
“And in fact, according to Mr. Comey, the president told Mr. Comey ‘ it would be good to find out” in that investigation if there were “some ‘ satellite’ associates of his who did something wrong.’ ”
In attacking Comey’s testimony — as Trump surrogates did throughout the day — Kasowitz said the former director “admitted that he unilaterally and surreptitiously made unauthorized disclosures to the press of privileged communications with the president.”
Trump’s lawyer was referring to the memos Comey kept on conversations he had with the president.
In testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Comey said he moved to make aspects of his contemporaneous memos public by enlisting a friend to share contents of his own notes with a reporter, after the president suggested in a tweet there might be secret recordings of his conversations with Comey.
Comey said he hoped news reports would prompt the appointment of a special counsel. Indeed, the Justice Department appointed former FBI director Robert Mueller as special counsel to oversee the Russia inquiry just one day after the existence of the memos was disclosed. Yet Kasowitz said The New York
Times reported on the memos before that presidential post. Calling Comey’s action “retaliatory,” Kasowitz said that “we will leave it ( to) the appropriate authorities to determine whether these leaks should be investigated along with all those others being investigated.” However, there is no evidence The
Times quoted from Comey memos before Trump tweeted about possible “tapes” of their conversations in a post dated May 12. The first Times story on the memos appeared May 16.
Trump himself discussed his “privileged conversations” with Comey during an interview with NBC News two days after his abrupt firing of Comey May 9.
Kasowitz’s statement did not address Comey’s testimony before the Senate panel that he kept notes out of concern that Trump might later lie about the nature of their conversations.
Comey said he began documenting his interactions with the president starting with his first meeting on Jan. 6 after a tense briefing at Trump Tower. “It was the subject matter and the person I was interacting with,” he said. “It was the nature of the person. I was honestly concerned that he would lie about the nature of our meeting.”
In the hearing, Comey also said Trump “defamed me and the FBI” after the president dismissed him last month. “Those were lies, plain and simple, and I am so sorry the FBI workforce had to hear them, and the American people were told them,” Comey said.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders declined to comment on the former FBI director’s testimony in general on Thursday, but she did dispute one key theme: “I can definitely say the president is not a liar,” Sanders said. “It’s frankly insulting that that question would be asked.”
Sanders also said she has “no idea” if there is a taping system in the White House, after Comey testified that he would welcome the release of any tapes of conversations he had with Trump.
Critics of Trump, including Democratic lawmakers, said Comey’s accounts and subsequent firing could add up to an effort by Trump to obstruct justice in an investigation of links between Trump campaign associates and Russians who tried to influence last year’s election.