10 Times Comey Broke the Rules According to IG Report

The Justice Department Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a report today criticizing former FBI Director James Comey’s actions during his tenure under the Trump administration.

The IG report explicitly detailed multiple examples of Cuomo violating DOJ and FBI policies with abandon. While disseminating sensitive law enforcement information might not be a felony, experts agree it’s grounds for termination. 

Nevertheless, Comey drafted, retained, and leaked memos recalling private conversations with President Trump.

By failing to safeguard official records and asking a law professor friend to make one public – to insidiously call for action against the president – Comey “set a dangerous example for the over 35,000 current FBI employees,” according to the OIG.

In response, Comey defiantly tweeted that he is not a “liar and a leaker,” before adding that an apology from his detractors “would be nice.”
 

DOJ IG “found no evidence that Comey or his attorneys released any of the classified information contained in any of the memos to members of the media.” 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.

— James Comey (@Comey) August 29, 2019

Today’s findings contradict his brazen claims. Here are all the times in the IG report Comey violated DOJ policy, FBI policy, and the FBI’s employment agreement.

“Comey did not seek authorization from the FBI before providing Memos 2, 4, 6, and 7 to his attorneys.”

“Comey did not seek FBI authorization before providing the contents of Memo 4, through Richman, to a reporter.”

“As described in this report, we conclude that Comey’s retention, handling, and dissemination of certain Memos violated Department and FBI policies, and his FBI Employment Agreement.”

“Comey told the OIG that he did not notify anyone at the FBI that he was going to share these Memos with anyone, and did not seek authorization from the FBI prior to emailing these four Memos to Fitzgerald.”

“Accordingly, Comey stated that he did not notify anyone at the FBI that he was going to share the contents of the Memo 4 with Richman or the media, and that he did not seek authorization from FBI to provide Memo 4 to Richman.”

“Accordingly, after his removal as FBI Director, Comey violated applicable policies and his Employment Agreement by failing to either surrender his copies of Memos 2, 4, 6, and 7 to the FBI or seek authorization to retain them; by releasing official FBI information and records to third parties without authorization; and by failing to immediately alert the FBI about his disclosures to his personal attorneys once he became aware in June 2017 that Memo 2 contained six words (four of which were names of foreign countries mentioned by the President) that the FBI had determined were classified at the ‘CONFIDENTIAL’ level.”

“Despite knowledge that Memo 3 contained classified information, Comey did not appropriately mark Memo 3 with classification banners, portion markings, or a classification authority block. By failing to do so, Comey violated Executive Order 13526 and Intelligence Community, Department, and FBI policies governing marking of classified information.”

“Comey’s actions with respect to the Memos violated Department and FBI policies concerning the retention, handling, and dissemination of FBI records and information, and violated the requirements of Comey’s FBI Employment Agreement.”

“Comey violated Department and FBI policies, and the terms of his FBI Employment Agreement, by retaining copies of Memos 2, 4, 6, and 7 after he was removed as Director, regardless of each Memo’s classification level.”

“As a departing FBI employee, Comey was required to relinquish any official documents in his possession and to seek specific authorization from the FBI in order to personally retain any FBI documents. Comey failed to comply with these requirements.”

(H/T Fox News)