5 Takeaways From James Comey's Testimony
During the testimony, Senator Susan Collins asked Comey about the memos leaked after his firing which detailed conversations he had with President Donald Trump.
Comey acknowledged that he had "a close friend who is a professor at Columbia law school" leak his memos out to the public.
"I asked — the president tweeted on Friday after I got fired that I better hope there's not tapes. I woke up in the middle of the night on Monday night because it didn't dawn on me originally, that there might be corroboration for our conversation. There might a tape," said Comey.
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"My judgement was, I need to get that out into the public square. I asked a friend of mine to share the content of the memo with a reporter. Didn't do it myself for a variety of reasons. I asked him to because I thought that might prompt the appointment of a special counsel. I asked a close friend to do it."
Law Professor Jonathan Turley penned a column on his website asking aloud whether or not Comey's actions violated the law.
"Besides being subject to Nondisclosure Agreements, Comey falls under federal laws governing the disclosure of classified and nonclassified information," wrote Turley.
"Assuming that the memos were not classified (though it seems odd that it would not be classified even on the confidential level), there is 18 U.S.C. § 641 which makes it a crime to steal, sell, or convey 'any record, voucher, money, or thing of value of the United States or of any department or agency thereof.'"
