Comey Went Outside FBI Protocol With Leaks

Former FBI Director James Comey’s actions in leaking to the media his own memos about meetings with President Donald Trump were not in keeping with how the Department of Justice operates, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said Wednesday.

During a Fox News interview, Rosenstein said he would not directly address Comey’s actions. However, he was forthright when asked by Martha MacCallum on The Story whether he would ever consider it proper for an FBI director to leak notes to the media regarding a meeting with a president.

“As a general proposition, you have to understand the Department of Justice. We take confidentiality seriously, so when we have memoranda about our ongoing matters, we have an obligation to keep that confidential,” Rosenstein said.

Rosenstein also said the principle of confidentiality is basic to the work of the Department of Justice.

“I think it is quite clear,” he said. “It’s what we were taught, all of us prosecutors and agents.”

During the interview, he also defended hiring special counsel Robert Mueller to investigate collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, something Trump has denied for months.

“I’ve got to explain that I made the decision to appoint Director Mueller based upon his reputation. He had an excellent reputation. Really bipartisan support for his integrity. That’s why I made that decision,” Rosenstein said. “But I can assure you that if there were conflicts that arose because of Director Mueller or anybody employed by Director Mueller, we have a process within the department to take care of that.”

Rosenstein said Mueller’s probe should be judged once it completes its work.

“The Department of Justice, we judge by results, and so my view about that is, we’ll see if they do the right thing,” Rosenstein said.

Comey said he believed the memos he wrote were his to do with as he pleased, but the FBI has indicated it has a different view. Four of the seven memos Comey wrote contained classified information, the FBI has told Congress.

FBI policy forbids an agent from sharing classified information without prior written permission, and all records created during official duties are government property.

Columbia University professor Daniel Richman, a Comey friend who leaked part of one memo to The New York Times, has said no rules were broken.

“No memos were given to the press, and no memos were classified at the time I received them,” Richman said, adding that the physical memo was never shared, only its “substance.” (For more from the author of “Comey Went Outside FBI Protocol With Leaks” please click HERE)

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