But it doesn’t name the FBI staffer whom Comey allegedly authorized to leak, referring to them only as “Person 3.”
He served at one point as a “special government employee” at the FBI when Comey led the bureau.
McCabe says he told Comey after the article came out that he authorized the leak, and Comey approved of it, but Comey has long insisted that no such conversation took place.
And the filing notes that Cruz used the phrase “Clinton administration,” not “Clinton investigation.”
It states only that Comey “authorized PERSON 3 to serve as an anonymous source in news reports regarding an FBI investigation concerning PERSON 1.”
James Comey’s lawyers have filed a new court document that provides a definitive answer to a persistent question regarding the criminal charges against the former FBI director: Who is “Person 3”?
Comey was accused of lying during a 2020 Senate hearing by the Department of Justice last month. According to the two-page indictment, the former FBI director lied to lawmakers about never allowing anyone to use an anonymous source in news reports about the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton. However, it refers to the FBI employee Comey allegedly gave permission to leak as “Person 3” without naming them. “.”.
Last week, Comey’s attorneys stated in a motion to dismiss the charges filed Monday that the government “confirmed to the defense that … Person 3 refers to Daniel Richman.”. “,”.
Former federal prosecutor in New York and law professor at Columbia University, Richman has been Comey’s friend for a long time. While Comey was the head of the FBI, he was a “special government employee” at one point.
What information Richman is alleged to have leaked is still unknown. Richman has not been accused of any wrongdoing or charged with a crime by the Justice Department.
The filing on Monday, which contends that Comey is the target of a retaliatory prosecution motivated by President Trump’s “personal animosity” toward him, is the first time the Justice Department has identified the individual it believes Comey gave permission to leak. Richman was previously described as “Person 3” by a number of media outlets. “.”.
The testimony before the Senate that resulted in Comey’s charges did not mention Richman.
Rather, the indictment centers on a heated exchange in 2020 between Republican Sen. Ted Cruz interrogated Comey about whether he allowed former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe to release information to the Wall Street Journal regarding the Clinton investigation. After the article was published, McCabe claims he told Comey that he had given his approval for the leak, but Comey has long maintained that no such discussion ever took place.
Comey had told Sen. Chuck Grassley stated during a 2017 Senate Intelligence Committee hearing that he had never given permission for someone to act as an anonymous source in media reports about the FBI’s investigations into Mr. Trump or Clinton. Cruz countered that three years later with McCabe’s remarks regarding the Wall Street Journal leak.
“Now, it is impossible for both what Mr. Dot McCabe is saying and what you told this committee to be true. Cruz told Comey in 2020, “One or the other is untrue.”. “Who’s telling the truth?”.
“I can only talk about my own testimony. “I support the testimony,” Comey retorted.
The government’s case against the former FBI chief, who was charged with one count of making false statements to Congress and one count of obstructing a congressional investigation, was shot down by Comey’s lawyers in Monday’s filing because Cruz failed to inquire about Richman.
“The indictment omits Senator Cruz’s words that explicitly narrow the focus of his questions to Mr. McCabe and misleadingly implies that the questioning related to Mr. Richman,” the attorneys wrote with reference to the defendant. “..”.
Additionally, the court filing stated, “In other words, the indictment presents an inaccurate description of the testimony at the heart of this case.”.
Comey is misquoted in the Justice Department’s charges, according to his lawyers. According to the indictment, Comey told the Senate that he had not “authorized someone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports”; however, Cruz and Grassley, not Comey, used that exact phrase. According to the filing, Cruz used the term “Clinton administration” rather than “Clinton investigation.”. “.
The document states that Comey intends to request the dismissal of his false statement count “on the grounds of a defense of literal truth.”. The case Bronston v. Supreme Court was cited. People who make statements under oath that are literally true are not guilty of perjury, according to the United States.
Richman, Comey’s lawyers, and the Justice Department have all been contacted by CBS News for comment.
What alleged actions does Daniel Richman face?
The Justice Department’s belief that Richman leaked information to the media is not specified in the indictment. Only that Comey “permitted PERSON 3 to act as an anonymous source in news reports about an FBI investigation concerning PERSON 1” is mentioned. “.”.
“Person 1” was a reference to Clinton, as Comey’s attorneys verified in the filing on Monday.
One FBI leak investigation involving Comey and Richman, known as “Arctic Haze,” is referenced in the filing. The memo was declassified by the FBI earlier this year. Arctic Haze examined Comey’s decision-making while heading the politically charged investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server and attempted to determine how classified information about the FBI’s investigation got into a 2017 New York Times article.
The heavily redacted memo, released by conservative website Just The News, purports that Richman was interviewed for Arctic Haze. The memo claims that Richman told FBI agents that he had a conversation with one of the Times article’s writers, but that he was “sure ‘with a discount'” that he didn’t tell the reporter directly. Richman also stated that he didn’t know how the reporter obtained the classified information.
Although the memo refers to Richman as Comey’s “liaison to the media,” it also states at one point that “Richman later told the interviewing agents Comey never asked him to talk to the media.”. “.
No charges were brought against anyone during the Arctic Haze investigation. According to the memo, the investigation “has not produced enough evidence to criminally charge anyone, including Comey or Richman, with making false statements or with the substantive offenses under investigation.”. “,”.
Separately, the Justice Department’s inspector general looked into Comey during the first Trump administration for providing Richman with memos detailing his discussions with Mr. Trump, which Richman then gave to a Times reporter. Despite not disclosing any classified material, the internal watchdog concluded that Comey “violated applicable policies.”.
Mr. Beginning with Comey’s dismissal as FBI director in 2017, Trump has accused Comey of leaks and other wrongdoing for nearly ten years. For an extended period, the president has been critical of Comey’s handling of the FBI’s investigations into Clinton and the Trump campaign. Trump is “morally unfit to be president,” according to Comey. “..”.
In the court filings on Monday, Comey’s attorneys claimed that the charges against Mr. Trump were brought about by his long-standing “personal spite” and were submitted just before the statute of limitations ran out.
