The indictment of former FBI Director James Comey is simply two pages and alleges he falsely testified to Congress in 2020 about authorizing somebody to be an nameless supply in information tales.
That brevity belies a convoluted and contentious backstory. The occasions on the coronary heart of the disputed testimony are among the many most closely scrutinized within the bureau’s historical past, producing inside and congressional investigations which have produced 1000’s of pages of information and transcripts.
These investigations have been centered on how Comey and his brokers performed high-stakes inquiries into whether or not Russia had unlawfully colluded with Republican Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential marketing campaign towards Democrat Hillary Clinton and her use of a personal e mail server whereas she was Secretary of State.
Listed below are some issues to find out about that interval and the way they match into Comey’s indictment:
What are the allegations?
The that Comey made a false assertion in testimony earlier than the Senate Judiciary Committee. The only quote from the indictment seems to be from an interplay with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
Prosecutors contend that Comey lied when he denied having approved anybody on the FBI to be an nameless supply to the media, alleging he had finished so by telling somebody recognized as “Individual 3” within the indictment to talk to reporters.
“It’s such a bare-bones indictment,” stated , a former federal prosecutor and now a protection legal professional in non-public follow. “We have no idea what the proof goes to be” at trial, he stated.
What did Comey say to Congress?
Wisenberg stated the testimony in query seems to have come when Cruz was urgent Comey over the position that his deputy director on the time, Andrew McCabe, performed in authorizing a leak to the Wall Road Journal for a narrative inspecting how the FBI dealt with an investigation into Clinton’s use of the non-public e mail server.
Cruz’s query was difficult, but it surely boiled right down to pitting Comey towards McCabe. The senator famous that Comey informed Congress in 2017 he had not approved anybody to talk to reporters. However Cruz asserted that McCabe had “publicly and repeatedly stated he leaked info to the Wall Road Journal and that you simply have been immediately conscious of it and that you simply immediately approved it.”
“Who’s telling the reality?” Cruz requested.
Comey answered: “I stand by the testimony you summarized that I gave in Could of 2017.”
At the moment, Comey had been placed on the spot by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa). Comey was requested whether or not he had “ever approved another person on the FBI to be an nameless supply in information studies in regards to the Trump investigation or the Clinton investigation.”
Comey answered, “No.”
The indictment says Comey falsely said that he had not “approved another person on the FBI to be an nameless supply in information studies,” however Comey seems to not have used that phrasing through the 2020 listening to at challenge, probably complicating efforts to ascertain that he made a false assertion.
What could have sparked the questions?
“Individual 3” shouldn’t be recognized within the indictment, however seems to have been discussing an investigation associated to Clinton, primarily based on a clearer reference in a felony cost that grand jurors rejected. Comey figured in a number of inquiries into alleged leaks within the Clinton investigation, all of which generated in depth paper trails.
One concerned McCabe and the Journal story. McCabe informed the Justice Division’s inspector normal that he had approved a subordinate to speak to the Journal reporter and had informed Comey about that interplay after the very fact.
It’s unlikely the indictment is targeted on that episode as a result of McCabe by no means informed investigators that Comey had approved him to speak to the media, solely that the FBI director was conscious that McCabe had finished so.
Two different leak investigations concerned a pal of Comey’s who served for a time as a paid authorities advisor to the director. That advisor, Daniel Richman, has informed investigators he spoke to the media to assist form perceptions of the embattled FBI chief.
Richman, a regulation professor at Columbia College, was interviewed by FBI brokers in 2019 about leaks to the media that involved the bureau’s investigation into Clinton. Richman stated Comey had by no means approved him to talk to the media in regards to the Clinton investigation however he acknowledged Comey was conscious that he typically engaged with reporters.
Comey has acknowledged utilizing Richman as a conduit to the media in one other matter. After Comey was fired by Trump in 2017, he gave Richman a memo that detailed his interactions with the president. Comey later testified to Congress that he had approved Richman to reveal the contents of the memo to journalists with the hopes of spurring the appointment of a particular counsel who would possibly examine Trump.
How did we get right here?
Trump and Comey have been engaged in a long-running feud. Trump blames Comey for having began an investigation into Russia’s election meddling on behalf of Trump’s 2016 marketing campaign that led to the appointment of particular counsel Robert S. Mueller. Mueller spent the higher a part of two years investigating whether or not Trump’s marketing campaign illegally colluded with the Kremlin.
Ultimately, Mueller uncovered no proof that Trump or his associates criminally colluded with Russia, however discovered that that they had welcomed Moscow’s help and that Trump had obstructed justice through the investigation. These findings have been largely adopted by bipartisan congressional studies on the matter.
Trump, who was convicted of felony fraud final 12 months, has lengthy vented in regards to the “Russia hoax,” which shadowed and outlined the early years of his first time period. He has spent the following years bashing Comey and saying he needs to be charged with treason.
Simply days earlier than the indictment, Trump publicly urged his legal professional normal, Pam Bondi, to behave towards Comey and two different perceived Trump enemies: “We are able to’t delay any longer, it’s killing our popularity and credibility,” . “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW.”
Inside hours of the indictment being returned, Trump turned once more to social media to brag: “JUSTICE IN AMERICA! One of many worst human beings this Nation has ever been uncovered to is James Comey.”
Comey has remained resolute in his protection, whereas criticizing Trump on a bunch of issues. In a 2018 memoir, “A Larger Loyalty,” Comey in contrast Trump to a mafia don and stated he was unethical and “untethered to reality.”
Like Trump, Comey took to social media after his indictment.
“My household and I’ve identified for years there are prices to standing as much as Donald Trump,” he stated. “My coronary heart is damaged for the Division of Justice, however I’ve nice confidence within the federal judicial system, and I’m harmless. So, let’s have a trial.”
Tau writes for the Related Press. AP author Eric Tucker contributed to this report.
