Hill report: More than half of Comey notes contain classified information, Trump says it’s ‘so illegal’
A shocking new twist on the former FBI Director James Comey is a report from The Hill, quoting “officials familiar with the documents,” claiming that “More than half of the memos” Comey wrote documenting his personal interactions with President Trump on the Russian investigation “…contain classified information.”
President Trump wasted no time to pounce on the big reveal, calling it “illegal” – in that, Comey confessed to leaking information to the press personally to get action against Trump.
“James Comey leaked CLASSIFIED INFORMATION to the media. That is so illegal!” the President tweeted.
The Hill pointed out that Comey penned a total of seven memos describing his talks with Trump on the Russia case earlier this year and four of them had markings indicating they contained classified material at the “secret” or “confidential” level.
White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway called the latest report an “incredible bombshell” and said Monday that Comey was at least violating FBI rules if the account is true.
“The boy scout, choir boy defense doesn’t hold up here because if it contains classified information, he is apparently violating, at the very least, what all FBI members sign — they sign a document saying you will not do something like this. He was the director of the entire bureau,” Conway told “Fox & Friends.” “The irony to me, anyway … is that this is exactly the problem that Hillary Clinton had with her illegal server — the handling of classified and confidential information that Jim Comey was meant to investigate, if not prosecute.”
photo/ donkeyhotey
This story now sounds like a the same kind of allegations against former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, whom Comey’s team investigated for mishandling classified material on her private server and email.
Columbia University professor Daniel Richman, the Comey friend who leaked part of one memo to The New York Times, told Fox News on Monday that “this is a non-story.”
“No memos were given to the press, and no memos were classified at the time I received them,” he said, explaining that the “substance” of one memo was given to the press but not the physical document. “That was not classified at the time, and remains unclassified.”
Richman questioned the White House claims: “It’s kind of interesting that the White House is now suggesting they’re true,” Richman said.
While Richman may want to place blame on the Trump administration, that doesn’t seem to be the source to the Hill.
A spokesman for the FBI on Sunday declined to comment.
FBI policy forbids any agent from releasing classified information or any information from ongoing investigations or sensitive operations without prior written permission, and it mandates that all records created during official duties are considered to be government property.
“Unauthorized disclosure, misuse, or negligent handling of information contained in the files, electronic or paper, of the FBI or which I may acquire as an employee of the FBI could impair national security, place human life in jeopardy, result in the denial of due process, prevent the FBI from effectively discharging its responsibilities, or violate federal law,” states the agreement all FBI agents sign.
