When former FBI director James Comey disclosed at a congressional hearing last June that he had disseminated memos to a friend, his defenders scrambled to make excuses for him.
Comey didn't violate some hazy, unfounded expectation but expressly misled Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, and thereby Trump, when on February 8 he assured the former in response to a direct question that, yes, theirs was a "Private conversation." Remember, Comey knew he would be recording what transpired and sharing it with FBI "Associates," which, by the way, exacerbated the possibility of leaks the president was patently worried about.
Feltin notes, for example, that after labeling a series of his memos SECRET or CONFIDENTIAL, Comey inexplicably switched to UNCLASSIFIED//NOFORN for the very meeting at which Trump allegedly expressed his hope that Comey could see his way to letting the Flynn matter go.
Comey and the commentariat made much of this alleged "Criminal" request when Comey publicized it.
One reason Comey and his allies are putting so much emphasis on the memos being Comey's personal property is the above-cited conversion statute.
Until last week, it was the phantom memos, not the information Comey spun off them, that gave false heft to the Left's obstruction narrative.
It is for this reason that leftist legal academics are punching up the panegyrics for Comey The Whistleblower, implying Comey had an unselfish excuse for flouting rules and norms.
http://thefederalist.com/2018/05/02/idea-james-comeys-leaks-non-criminal-falling-apart/
Comey didn't violate some hazy, unfounded expectation but expressly misled Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, and thereby Trump, when on February 8 he assured the former in response to a direct question that, yes, theirs was a "Private conversation." Remember, Comey knew he would be recording what transpired and sharing it with FBI "Associates," which, by the way, exacerbated the possibility of leaks the president was patently worried about.
Feltin notes, for example, that after labeling a series of his memos SECRET or CONFIDENTIAL, Comey inexplicably switched to UNCLASSIFIED//NOFORN for the very meeting at which Trump allegedly expressed his hope that Comey could see his way to letting the Flynn matter go.
Comey and the commentariat made much of this alleged "Criminal" request when Comey publicized it.
One reason Comey and his allies are putting so much emphasis on the memos being Comey's personal property is the above-cited conversion statute.
Until last week, it was the phantom memos, not the information Comey spun off them, that gave false heft to the Left's obstruction narrative.
It is for this reason that leftist legal academics are punching up the panegyrics for Comey The Whistleblower, implying Comey had an unselfish excuse for flouting rules and norms.
http://thefederalist.com/2018/05/02/idea-james-comeys-leaks-non-criminal-falling-apart/
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