The Office of the Inspector General of the Department of
Justice has released its findings with respect to former FBI Director James
Comey. The just-released report (available
to read here) concludes that Comey violated DOJ policy by releasing several
memos about his conversations with President Trump. The DOJ declined
to prosecute Comey over the releases earlier this month.
The conclusion of the report notes, “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” and points out that “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.”
The OIG found that Comey’s memos were official FBI documents
rather than personal documents as he had claimed. Comey also violated FBI
policy in not returning the documents and failing to disclose immediately that classified
information had been released. One memo reportedly contained classified
information, but the OIG found that Comey did not release any classified material
to the media.
Comey responded by declaring victory on Twitter, saying, “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 also sharply attacked his critics, tweeting, “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.”
It is difficult to see the report as a victory for Comey except
in that he was found to have only broken policies rather than laws and that he
won’t face prosecutions. The report firmly condemns the former FBI director’s
judgment in taking matters into his own hands but falls short of supporting all
of the accusations made by his critics. The report is yet another in a series
of such reports in which neither side is totally vindicated and the truth lies
in the middle.
The OIG report released today was focused entirely on Comey’s
actions. A subsequent report is expected soon that will detail the
investigation into allegations that Department of Justice improperly spied on
members of the Trump campaign.
Originally published on The
Resurgent
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