Trump Lawyer to File Complaint Against James Comey for Leaking

Marc Kasowitz
AP/Manuel Balce Ceneta
Kristina Wong

President Trump’s lawyer Marc Kasowitz is set to file a complaint on former FBI Director James Comey, after he admitted Thursday that he orchestrated the leaking of his memos to the media.

Kasowitz will file a complaint with the Department of Justice’s Inspector General and the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to Fox News and other media outlets.

Comey told the Senate intelligence committee that he gave memos he created of private meetings with the president to a friend, so that he could relay them to the New York Times and other outlets in hopes of triggering the appointment of a special counsel.

“I asked a friend of mine to share the content of a memo with the reporter,” Comey said. “I didn’t do it myself for a variety of reasons, but I asked him to because I thought that might prompt the appointment of a special counsel.”

The friend is Dan Richman, a Columbia University law professor, a former official and adviser to Comey, who confirmed to media outlets he was the person Comey was referring to.

The revelation was one of the biggest during a hearing where Comey also testified under oath that former Attorney General Loretta Lynch pressured him to call an investigation into Hillary Clinton a “matter” instead of an “investigation.”

Kasowitz after the hearing called Comey one of the leakers attempting to undermine the president:

It is overwhelmingly clear that there have been and continue to be those in government who are actively attempting to undermine this administration with selective and illegal leaks of classified information and privileged communications. Mr. Comey has now admitted that he is one of these leakers.

The president expressed surprise over Comey’s revelation, too.

The administration has been beset by leaks since taking office.

Comey justified his leak by saying that he was concerned after Trump suggested there were tapes of one of their private meetings, and that he needed to get out his side in the public.

However, reporting shows that the tweet only came after a series of press reports documenting other private conversations Comey had with the president — presumably leaked by Comey.

On May 11, a Comey associate told the New York Times that Trump “demanded” loyalty from him during a private dinner.

It wasn’t until the next day, on May 12, that Trump tweeted, “James Comey better hope that there are no “tapes” of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!”

 

 

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.