Sunday morning saw President Donald Trump go on the offensive to accuse James Comey, the former director of the FBI, of being “very cowardly.” According to Trump, in what could be an illegal move, Comey acted cowardly by leaking memos of their conversations to the press, while he was serving as Director FBI.
“I believe the James Comey leaks will be far more prevalent than anyone ever thought possible,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Totally illegal? Very ‘cowardly!’”
The Senate Intelligence Committee had Comey testify on Thursday, regarding his dismissal, the probe into Russian collusion with the Trump campaign, and Trump’s potential obstruction of justice when he possibly directed Comey to downplay the probe into his former national security advisor General Mike Flynn.
However, one of the most noteworthy revelations from Comey’s testimony was that he admitted to leaking memos that contained his discussions with Trump while he was in office, to the press, specifically the New York Times.
On Friday, the American Center for Law and Justice’s chief counsel, wrote that Comey’s leaks were clearly illegal.
“Comey – the nation’s top intelligence official – admitted under oath that he leaked privileged documents to a friend to give to reporters at the New York Times,” Sekulow wrote in the article. “Memos that he had written in the course of his official government duties about privileged conversations with the President. The reason: Comey testified that he did so to manipulate the situation and force the appointment of a Special Counsel. (And, as we know – that’s ultimately what occurred.)”
“Comey’s admission that he is a leaker also raises serious legal questions,” Sekulow also wrote later in his article. “In my view, Comey broke the law: 18 U.S.C. § 641 provides that it is a federal crime to, without authority, convey a record of the United States, in this case an FBI record he admits under oath he leaked after being fired.”