# "Comey is a leaker"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 9, 2017, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-is-a-leaker/788517 "2017-06-09T15:20:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Okrahoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90db22/32.png) [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-is-a-leaker/788517/41 "2017-06-09T18:28:14Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > AFAICT it wasn’t illegal - maybe t was improper or self-serving or merely an attempt to cover the Comey ass. [Did Comey Violate Laws In Leaking The Trump Memo?](https://jonathanturley.org/2017/06/08/did-comey-violate-laws-in-leaking-memo/) ---
**Author:** ![Ramira](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ramira/32/344_2.png) [@Ramira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ramira)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-is-a-leaker/788517/42 "2017-06-09T18:28:20Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I just saw [this article](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_TRUMP_THE_LATEST?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2017-06-09-13-52-51) on the AP, and I thought it was particularly hilarious how the current segment ends (bolded):[url=[http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US\_TRUMP\_THE\_LATEST?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2017-06-09-13-52-51](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_TRUMP_THE_LATEST?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2017-06-09-13-52-51)]Jill Colvin, you totally fucking rock! > > 😛 It seems to me that Trump has been trying to operate just like he was known to do as a upwards scrambling New york real estate promoter with the only media caring about him, the low quality tabloids and the adversaries being either the SME that can be bullied and cowed by the threats, or the big operators who will keep quiet because they prefer discretion and not getting into the loud mud wallowing he liked to do. The making of the empty threats and the bullying, they worked against the SME and the small officials in that context. Now, he does not understand he is not any more in the world he thought he mastered. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-is-a-leaker/788517/43 "2017-06-09T18:30:00Z")
I have not been able to find a job description for the FBI Director position (as you might imagine, searches on those terms are fraught right now). However, bureaucracy being what it is, I suspect there some document that enumerates the Director’s duties and authority, at least in general terms. If so, some variations on “confer with legal scholars” and “interface with the press” seem likely to be on the list. I don’t know that such a list exists, or what’s on it, but I would think that Comey does. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-is-a-leaker/788517/44 "2017-06-09T18:31:25Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > [Did Comey Violate Laws In Leaking The Trump Memo?](https://jonathanturley.org/2017/06/08/did-comey-violate-laws-in-leaking-memo/) I linked that in post #15. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-is-a-leaker/788517/45 "2017-06-09T18:38:31Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > LHOD pointed to some inference from the lawyer’s comments, and it’s a valid inference though not more than that. Not sure what you mean–are you saying the lawyer’s inference is valid, or my inference about what the lawyer is saying is valid? Because I’m not sure I agree with either: the lawyer’s inference seems invalid to me, whereas I can’t see a plain-language reading of the lawyer’s comments other than that the lawyer is claiming Comey’s leak is illegal. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-is-a-leaker/788517/46 "2017-06-09T18:42:46Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > He had a friend leak the memos of his meetings with Trump. He claims he did to push for a special counsel. > > It has not been established if it was legal or not. Washington DC is a city and has a media that lives by leaks and hates Trump, so they are going to defend Comey whether he acted properly or not. So basically: “who knows, but the press are poopyheads.” Thanks so very much. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-is-a-leaker/788517/47 "2017-06-09T18:47:07Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Not sure what you mean–are you saying the lawyer’s inference is valid, or my inference about what the lawyer is saying is valid? The second. > [@](#): > > Because I’m not sure I agree with either: the lawyer’s inference seems invalid to me, whereas I can’t see a plain-language reading of the lawyer’s comments other than that the lawyer is claiming Comey’s leak is illegal. The “illegal” adjective was describing the leaks of other people. He was saying that many people have been subjecting the administration to illegal leaks and Comey is clearly one of these leakers. But he didn’t say that this specific leak was illegal. ---
**Author:** ![ganthet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de0a6/32.png) [@ganthet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ganthet)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-is-a-leaker/788517/48 "2017-06-09T18:48:36Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Not sure what you mean–are you saying the lawyer’s inference is valid, or my inference about what the lawyer is saying is valid? > > Because I’m not sure I agree with either: the lawyer’s inference seems invalid to me, whereas I can’t see a plain-language reading of the lawyer’s comments other than that the lawyer is claiming Comey’s leak is illegal. Precisely. Trump’s private attorney mentioned that people within the Trump administration and the federal government in general have leaked classified information to the media in the past year and explicitly lumped Comey in with those people. If leaking classified information is a crime (and it usually is), then Trump’s attorney is indirectly accusing Comey of committing a crime. It seems Trump’s attorney is making this accusation so indirectly because he likely knows that it is BS and is hoping more for a “guilt by association” appearance. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-is-a-leaker/788517/49 "2017-06-09T19:22:53Z")
> [@ganthet](#): > > It seems Trump’s attorney is making this accusation so indirectly because he likely knows that it is BS and is hoping more for a “guilt by association” appearance. Yes, this is absolutely what Trump’s lawyer is doing. And the usual media whores on the right will lap it up. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-is-a-leaker/788517/50 "2017-06-09T19:24:09Z")
Just out of curiosity, though, I wonder why Comey didn’t give the memos to the press directly. In his testimony, he said he gave them to a friend to give to the press “for a number of reasons”, but I never heard what any of those reasons were. ---
**Author:** ![Okrahoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90db22/32.png) [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-is-a-leaker/788517/51 "2017-06-09T19:32:55Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Just out of curiosity, though, I wonder why Comey didn’t give the memos to the press directly. In his testimony, he said he gave them to a friend to give to the press “for a number of reasons”, but I never heard what any of those reasons were. From the hearing: 11.35pm HK /11.35am EDT: Blunt hammers Comey on why he felt it appropriate to release his Trump memos to a “friend”, who then released them to the media. Comey - the unclassified “memorialisation” were his private records. “Journalists were camped at the end of my driveway…it would be like feeding seagulls at the beach” if he personally gave it to the media. … which is a very weak reason. He could have easily called NYT or something and arranged it himself. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-is-a-leaker/788517/52 "2017-06-09T19:34:07Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Just out of curiosity, though, I wonder why Comey didn’t give the memos to the press directly. In his testimony, he said he gave them to a friend to give to the press “for a number of reasons”, but I never heard what any of those reasons were. [The New York Times has a full transcript of Dir. Comey’s testimony. > [@](#): > > BLUNT: So why didn’t you give those to somebody yourself, rather than give them through a third party? > > COMEY: Because I was worried the media was camping at the end of my driveway at that point, and I was actually going out of town with my wife to hide, and I worried it would be like feeding seagulls at the beach… > > (LAUGHTER) > > …if — if it was — if it was I who gave it to the media. So I asked my friend, “Make sure this gets out.” ]([https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/08/us/politics/senate-hearing-transcript.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/08/us/politics/senate-hearing-transcript.html)) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-is-a-leaker/788517/53 "2017-06-09T20:05:12Z")
OK, thanks. But that doesn’t really make sense. He could have mailed it in (anonymously or not), and of course the seagulls would have been just as nasty as soon as they got the info from his friend, anyway. Not that it really matters, since there is nothing illegal about it. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-is-a-leaker/788517/54 "2017-06-09T20:20:00Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > OK, thanks. But that doesn’t really make sense. He could have mailed it in (anonymously or not), and of course the seagulls would have been just as nasty as soon as they got the info from his friend, anyway. Not that it really matters, since there is nothing illegal about it. I can see his logic. If he had called the NY Times himself, his phone would have never stopped ringing all weekend. He and his wife would have been followed 24 hours a day as everyone tried to get a scoop. Leaking the memo himself would have put the focus on him and his actions, rather than on the words in the memo, and according to his testimony, it was the words in the memo that he wanted out in the public sphere, to hopefully spur the appointment of a Special Counsel (which as we all know is what happened). At least, that’s how I interpret his testimony and actions. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-is-a-leaker/788517/55 "2017-06-09T20:22:32Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Just out of curiosity, though, I wonder why Comey didn’t give the memos to the press directly. In his testimony, he said he gave them to a friend to give to the press “for a number of reasons”, but I never heard what any of those reasons were. He said, IIRC, that it would be like feeding pigeons, and they would camp out looking for more. ETA: I recalled close, but not exact. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-is-a-leaker/788517/56 "2017-06-09T20:24:39Z")
Help me out with this one though. Comey claims the memos were not classified because they were his personal notes about his meeting with the President. But if they discussed classified information isn’t it possible those memo should be classified and who makes that determination. FTR I don’t believe his memos are classified but it seems to me there should be more than “my personal notes” = “not classified as per me” ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-is-a-leaker/788517/57 "2017-06-09T20:53:10Z")
Can the subject of a criminal investigation by the FBI expect to have confidential discussions with the investigating officer about trying to get the FBI to drop the investigation, even if the subject of the investigation is nominally the investigator’s boss? I suspect that the answer is “No - and certainly not if he didn’t make it clear at the time that the discussions are classified”. But either way - I suspect that Comey is just happy to be having this discussion publicly. In other news, Donald has offered to testify under oath to rebut Comey’s testimony, so everyone be sure to go to church this Sunday! ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-is-a-leaker/788517/58 "2017-06-09T21:00:24Z")
If Comey is guilty of something, “lock him up!”. Fine, no prob. Did he tell the truth? Crux of the biscuit. This whole “leakers” thing is pure Trumpick counter-narrative. They want to present an image of noble paladins beset by Deep State minions constantly “leaking”. They are eager to have us believe that “leaking” in and of itself is nefarious and unpatriotic. “Is it true?” is the only question I ask.\* \*Of course, there are limits. I could not approve of waterboarding Trump to get truthful answers on the sources of his wealth, as a matter of principle, even as I am willing admit that I would pay to watch. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-is-a-leaker/788517/59 "2017-06-09T21:08:19Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > … > > In other news, Donald has offered to testify under oath to rebut Comey’s testimony, so everyone be sure to go to church this Sunday! Please, God, make it so! Trump under oath, testifyng about his lies, oh it sounds too good to be true. I mean, I was looking forward to his numbskull live response tweets during the Comey testimony- and it didn’t happen. Trump! Trump! Why do you tease me?? ---
**Author:** ![CoolHandCox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coolhandcox/32/16233_2.png) [@CoolHandCox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoolHandCox)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-is-a-leaker/788517/60 "2017-06-09T21:09:12Z")
To be clear, the memos (the actual physical document) was never leaked to anyone. The press got the contents of the memo only by Comey’s professor friend reading from it to the NYT over the phone. [NY Times Article](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/16/us/politics/james-comey-trump-flynn-russia-investigation.html?_r=0) > [@](#): > > Mr. Comey shared the existence of the memo with senior F.B.I. officials and close associates. The New York Times has not viewed a copy of the memo, which is unclassified, but one of Mr. Comey’s associates read parts of it to a Times reporter. I imagine the original Memos were kept at the FBI and then turned over the the Special Prosecutor. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-is-a-leaker/788517.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-is-a-leaker/788517.md?page=4)