Tipsheet

ICYMI: USA Today, CNN Sue FBI Over Comey Memos, FBI Says They're Not Releasing Them

Former FBI Director James Comey drafted several memos after his key meetings with President Trump. Their contents describe ways in which he felt the president was reportedly acting improperly when it came to the influencing an ongoing investigation. That investigation centers on former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who is being looked at for his ties to Russia. The revelation of this memo and the private one-on-one meeting, where Trump said he hoped Comey and the FBI could let the whole thing go sparked outrage on the Left. Obstruction of justice charges were lobbed at the White House. Trump firing Comey in early May also exacerbated the issue, though that is well within the right of the president. There is no solid evidence that Trump obstructed justice. During his testimony two weeks ago, Comey said that Flynn was not a central figure of the Russia probe, which led to MSNBC’s Chris Matthews saying that the whole Trump-Russia collusion theory had collapsed. If Flynn wasn’t a central figure, then he wasn’t in a position to testify against Trump.

 Well, some have been briefed on the Comey memos. They’ve been turned over to the FBI and people want to see them. The only problem is that the FBI doesn’t seem to be willing to turn them over. USA Today and CNN filed lawsuits on June 15 against the FBI over the memos (via Mic News):

 The nine memos Comey wrote about his conversations with Trump have become the subject of intense interest following a bombshell New York Times report on the contents of one memo that revealed Trump requested Comey to stop investigating former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

 […]

 Attorneys for CNN said in court filings that the FBI did not respond to a Freedom of Information Act request for copies of those memos within the window of time required by federal law — which requires agencies to "notify a requester of the scope of the documents that the agency will produce" within 20 working days of receiving the request.

 

Attorneys for USA Today similarly said in filings that investigative reporter Brad Heath had not received any "substantive response" to his request to obtain any "records memorializing conversations between former Director Comey and President Trump."

 The FBI’s response was to tell the news media to go pound sand.