The inspector general for the Justice Department has condemned fired FBI Director James Comey’s leaking of sensitive information in violation of the law and FBI policy “in order to achieve a personally desired outcome.”
The IG report addressed memos Comey created of his meetings with President Trump that he gave to a friend to leak to the New York Times. His stated goal was to provoke the appointment of a special counsel to investigate the president.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., called Comey’s action’s “sleazy” and charged he cheapened the FBI.
Comey kept some of the memos in his home even after his firing by Trump. He did not tell the FBI he had copies and he did not get permission to distribute them.
“The responsibility to protect sensitive law enforcement information falls in large part to the employees of the FBI who have access to it through their daily duties,” the report by IG Michael Horowitz concluded.
“On occasion, some of the employees may disagree with decisions by prosecutors, judges, or higher ranking FBI and Department officials about the actions to take or not take in criminal and counterintelligence matters. They may even, in some situations, distrust the legitimacy of those supervisory, prosecutorial, or judicial decisions. But even when these employees believe that their most strongly held personal convictions might be served by an unauthorized disclosure, the FBI depends on them not to disclose sensitive information.”
The report said Comey “failed to live up to this responsibility.”
“By not safeguarding sensitive information obtained during the course of his FBI employment, and by using it to create public pressure for official action, 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. Comey said he was compelled to take these actions ‘if I love this country … and I love the Department of Justice, and I love the FBI.’ However, were current or former FBI employees to follow the former director’s example and disclose sensitive information in service of their own strongly held personal convictions, the FBI would be unable to dispatch its law enforcement duties properly, as Comey himself noted.
“We have previously faulted Comey for acting unilaterally and inconsistent with department policy. Comey’s unauthorized disclosure of sensitive law enforcement information about the Flynn investigation merits similar criticism. In a country built on the rule of law, it is of utmost importance that all FBI employees adhere to department and FBI policies, particularly when confronted by what appear to be extraordinary circumstances or compelling personal convictions. Comey had several other lawful options available to him to advocate for the appoint of a special counsel, which he told us was his goal in making the disclosure. What was not permitted was the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive investigative information, obtained during the course of FBI employment, in order to achieve a personally desired outcome.”
In a response Thursday on Twitter, Comey discounted the the IG’s conclusions.
“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.’ 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,” Comey wrote.
“And to all those who’ve spent two years talking about me ‘going to jail’ or being a ‘liar and a leaker’ – ask yourselves why you still trust people who gave you bad info for so long, including the president,” he said.
Horowitz had referred Comey to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution, but the agency declined.
The Hill described the Horowitz report as “scathing” in its determination that Comey violated FBI policies as well as his employment agreement.
The report concluded Comey’s “retention, handling, and dissemination of certain Memos violated Department and FBI policies, and his FBI Employment Agreement.”
Much of the information Comey mishandled “was directly tied to FBI investigative activities.”
The report said, “While Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz declined to make a recommendation as to whether or not to charge the former FBI chief, he said Comey broke FBI policies by seeking to share unauthorized information about ongoing investigations with a friend who then gave it to The New York Times two months after his removal.”
The report confirmed Comey “violated FBI policy and the requirements of his FBI employement agreement … by disclosing the contents of Memo 4, through Richman, to The New York Times, Comey made public sensitive investigative information related to an ongoing FBI investigation, information he had properly declined to disclose while still FBI director.”
The report confirmed Comey is a “leaker,” stating, “By his own admission, Comey disclosed the contents of Memo 4 in an attempt to force the department to take official investigative actions – to appoint a special counsel.”
The IG is working on another report on how the FBI and and other agencies under President Obama obtained Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court permission to spy on the Trump campaign in 2016.
