Perhaps he was being “extremely careless” like the woman he cleared of mishandling “very sensitive, highly classified information” back in July of 2016.
While we may never know his ‘intent,’ former FBI Director James Comey reportedly had classified information contained within the memos he took of conversations with President Trump.
Testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee in June, Comey stated that he began the practice of writing memos because he “was honestly concerned that he (Trump) might lie about the nature of our meeting.”
It turns out however, that Comey himself has been proven to be the liar.
During that same testimony, he claimed that the memos contained no classified information.
Not once –
Comey in June: My Trump Memos Were Unclassified, Not a ‘Government Document’ pic.twitter.com/k7vlSnT3PB
— Grabien (@GrabienMedia) July 10, 2017
But twice –
Here’s another clip of Comey assuring the Senate Intel Committee his Trump memos contained no classified material. https://t.co/JYK2dIVu48 pic.twitter.com/w5fuxg4f8Y
— Grabien (@GrabienMedia) July 10, 2017
“My view was that the content of those unclassified — the memorialization of those conversations was my recollection recorded,” Comey testified.
A new report says otherwise.
Via the Hill:
More than half of the memos former FBI chief James Comey wrote as personal recollections of his conversations with President Trump about the Russia investigation have been determined to contain classified information, according to interviews with officials familiar with the documents.
This revelation raises the possibility that Comey broke his own agency’s rules and ignored the same security protocol that he publicly criticized Hillary Clinton for in the waning days of the 2016 presidential election.
Comey testified last month he considered the memos to be personal documents and that he shared at least one of them with a Columbia University lawyer friend. He asked that lawyer to leak information from one memo to the news media in hopes of increasing pressure to get a special prosecutor named in the Russia case after Comey was fired as FBI director.
Think about that for a moment. If you recall, Comey leaked these memos to the New York Times though a friend at Columbia University. In other words, he took classified material in those memos, illegally gave them to a friend, who then shared them with the media.
Those leaks were already under scrutiny by legal experts, but this new information seems to confirm that Comey is in serious legal jeopardy.
President Trump concurs …
James Comey leaked CLASSIFIED INFORMATION to the media. That is so illegal!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 10, 2017
There were seven memos regarding nine conversations with Trump about Russia. All of them, according to officials, were considered government documents, while four of them “had markings making clear they contained information classified at the secret or confidential level.”
Can you imagine if the former FBI Director were indicted for mishandling classified information and had to claim the Hillary defense to try and avoid prosecution? The irony here is tremendously thick.
Should Comey be indicted for leaking classified information? Share your thoughts below!
