Fired former FBI Director James Comes was reportedly referred for criminal prosecution by the Department of Justice’s inspector general. Michael Horowitz released a scorching report on Comey, who leaked memos to a friend who later gave them to The New York Times. This was done to get a special counsel appointed to head off an investigation into Trump-Russia collusion. Comey said that these documents were his personal journals, not the property of the FBI. These documents detailed meetings he had with President Trump. These are highly sensitive documents which he decided to leak. These aren’t journals, sir. And Comey probably knew that. While he was referred by the DOJ IG, the Justice Department didn’t pull the trigger in bringing formal charges (via Washington Times):
Justice Department Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz said Wednesday that he referred former FBI Director James B. Comey for criminal prosecution this year after concluding he leaked sensitive materials to a friend.
And the Justice Department watchdog told Congress he would “assess” Republican allegations of inconsistent statements in Mr. Comey’s testimony before the Senate.
Mr. Horowitz’s disclosure that he made the criminal referral marks his first public statement about the criticism lodged against Mr. Comey in a report released last summer. He told lawmakers it is standard practice to make a criminal referral when wrongdoing is suspected.
“We are required by the [Inspector General] Act to send information that we’ve identified that could plausibly be criminal to the Department of Justice,” Mr. Horowitz said.
The Justice Department ultimately decided not to prosecute Mr. Comey despite the conclusion by Mr. Horowitz’s team that he improperly leaked information to the news media. The documents leaked by Mr. Comey were sensitive but not classified.
James Comey purposefully leaked a memo so the special counsel could investigate the President.
— Oversight Committee Republicans (@GOPoversight) September 18, 2019
James Comey relied on a bogus dossier to spy on an American citizen.
James Comey owes the country an apology.
?? : @RepMarkMeadows pic.twitter.com/tRfcrLr2lv
Comey has become a hated figure on both sides. Democrats are still mad at him for reopening the Hillary Clinton email probe weeks before Election Day. Republicans are infuriated over the fact that despite an excoriating press conference in July 2016, where he outlined a pattern of irresponsible behavior by Clinton and her staff concerning the handling of classified information relating to her unauthorized server which she used for all official business while serving as secretary of state—the FBI declined to bring formal charges. He found enemies on both sides of the river and ended up dead. Yet, this also kills the second tier of the “get Trump” campaign waged by the Left.
Besides the Russian collusion myth, there’s the obstruction of justice bit, which started as soon as Comey was fired for cause. It’s all outlined by former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s letter on the matter. Comey was fired in May of 2017. And based on what we know about his actions in the twilight of his career at the FBI—Trump was well within his right to dismiss his FBI chief.
And on a side note, criminally referred for leaking sensitive material while he looked into Clinton for doing the same. Oh, the irony.