Monday, July 10, 2017

Half of Comey private memos contained classified information...

Sworn oath taken by all members of the FBI:
“all information acquired by me in connection with my official duties with the FBI and all official material to which I have access remain the property of the United States of America. I will not reveal, by any means, any information or material from or related to FBI files or any other information acquired by virtue of my official employment to any unauthorized recipient without prior official written authorization by the FBI.”

So according to the sworn agreement of becoming an FBI agent, any information acquired during official duties of the FBI are the property of the FBI and releasing that information without written authorization is a violation of FBI regulations and quite possibly a violation of the law.

James Comey's assertion that he could write private memos on events that took place while director and then release them as private property of a private citizen seems to be entirely without merit. By all accounts Comey providing the contents of his discussions broke FBI protocol, and to the degree that any of the information was either classified or otherwise privileged, it certainly could have broken the law.

Of course, Comey can always use the Hillary Clinton defense and claim he was too stupid to understand that he was committing a crime. Perhaps he understood that his own precedent might come back to help him later.

40 comments:

opie said...


As our extremely esteemed and biased host posts from unnamed sources while ignoring who is responsible for who is responsible for the classification....the originator, I'll show my bias that comey knew what he was writing an most likely avoided writing anything classified. And you are relying on the dreaded MSM fake reporting. LOLOLOL!!! How quaint you can be with your selective bias.

Comey insisted in his testimony he believed his personal memos were unclassified, though he hinted one or two documents he created might have been contained classified information.

Anonymous said...

Look at the ending of the article Cali cited in blue on the 9th Circuit Court thread at 6:46:

____________
Now,congressional investigators are likely to turn their attention to the same issues to determine if Comey mishandled any classified information in his personal memos.

In order to make an assessment, congressional investigators will have to tackle key questions, such as:

*Where and how were the memos were created, such as whether they were written on an insecure computer or notepad.

*Where and how the memos were stored, such as inside his home, his briefcase or an insecure laptop.

*Were any memos shown to private individuals without a security clearance and did those memos contain any classified information

*When was it determined by the government that the memos contained classified information, before Comey took them and shared one or after.

One avenue for answering those questions is for a panel like Senate Intelligence, House Intelligence or Senate Judiciary to refer the matter to the Justice Department’s internal watchdog, the inspector general, or to the Director of National Intelligence and its inspector general, aides said.

concerned for my country, James said...

Trump accuses Comey of illegally leaking classified information

The Washington Post
Ashley Parker
1 hr ago

And goes on another tweet rampage.

opie said...

To whom ever anonymous is...

All reasonable questions IF it is determined to be classified if the anonymous source is correct. A big if, based on Comey's creds and words the hearings posted in the first post. IOW's who to believe, your unsourced C&P or Comey?????

Anonymous said...

My C&P is neither a pro- nor anti-Comey assessment. Just an assessment of what, if this is to be an issue, will probably be done about it. It is from The Hill, and can be accessed through Cali's post.

C.H. Truth said...

I'll show my bias that comey knew what he was writing an most likely avoided writing anything classified.

Comey also suggested that he could make personal memos of meetings he had with the President, and that those memos because his personal property as a private citizen.

That turned out (by all accounts) to be a faulty assumption. The oath alone proves that much. At this point there is no dispute that the Government (not James Comey) owns those memos and whatever information is attached.

In other words (by all accounts) he was not at liberty to leak them... as he suggested he was.

My post suggested that if anything he had leaked had classified information, then he would be in violation of the law. It's also possible that him taking those memos with him when he was let go would be a violation of the law (if those memos contained classified information).

My post didn't automatically "assume" anything we don't already know to be true... and "speculated" as to what it would mean if the reports were true.

Loretta said...

No pedophilia to swoon over yet today Pastor James Boswell?

Coldheartedtruth Teller said...

As usual, just following orders.

Trump tweet this morning.

James Comey leaked CLASSIFIED INFORMATION to the media. That is so illegal!

Coldheartedtruth Teller said...

Trump is using an old KGB tactic Deny Deflect Redirect!!👹👹👹

Loretta said...

Roger didn't think of that on his own...

https://m.dailykos.com/story/2017/5/16/1662881/-Trump-101-When-in-trouble-on-Russia-deny-distract-and-deflect

C.H. Truth said...

Sure Rog...

The former Director of the FBI took FBI memos with him after he was fired... then leaked them to the press. Now reports are that these memos are considered government property and that half of them contain classified information.

But in your mind it's not news... because it's not about Russia.

Commonsense said...

Actually it may be about Russia. Just not in the way Rog wants it.

Bob Bauer said...

Bob Bauer:
“What is becoming increasingly clear is that Mr. Trump and his campaign were open to whatever help the Russians would provide: they made that clear to the Russians, and took specific actions to invite and receive this foreign national assistance. In response to the latest disclosure of Russian contacts, the campaign’s defense seems to be that it never checked whether the people from whom they were soliciting stolen emails and other negative information were Russians, much less connected to the Kremlin. That may beggar belief; some may even find the claim perversely amusing. But under campaign finance law, it is no joke.”

James said...

If Obama had done that, you'd be calling for him to be shot for treason.

Loretta said...

No pedophilia to swoon over yet today Pastor James Boswell?

Loretta said...

No pedophilia to swoon over yet today Pastor James Boswell?

Bob Bauer said...

The Criminal Case Against Donald Trump Jr.

Bob Bauer: “There is much more to know in evaluating the case that Mr. Trump and his campaign committed campaign finance violations in soliciting and receiving support from Russia, and assisting the Russians in their plan to influence the 2016 presidential election. There is now little doubt that there is such a case. Its precise nature, and the full range and strength of the evidence available to support it, remain to be determined. For example, we do not know the role that Mr. Flynn played in the Smith Group hunt for stolen emails. We have only what Donald Trump Jr. has admitted about the substance of the June meeting with the Russian lawyer offering negative information on Mrs. Clinton.”

Loretta said...

No pedophilia to swoon over yet today Pastor James Boswell?

Loretta said...

Pastor James Boswell will be linking to GayStarPorn again.

Anonymous said...

Blogger Loretta said...
Roger didn't think of that on his own...
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

but when he does it's such a rambling, disjointed, incoherent and mentally ill mountain of alky spew it's not even legible.

Anonymous said...




ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bob Bauer is a partner at the law firm of Perkins Coie and Professor of Practice and Distinguished Scholar in Residence at New York University School of Law. During 2010 and 2011, he was White House Counsel to President Obama.



LOL.

an 0linsky hack thinks he found the keys to the trump-russia kingdom.

Commonsense said...

Who else would Boswell copy?

C.H. Truth said...

he was White House Counsel to President Obama.

Now we know why Obama had the worst court record of any President in history...

Anonymous said...




hmmm, good point:


Riddle Me This:

If CNN can locate a meme maker in hours, why haven't they found evidence of Trump colluding with Russia or evading taxes???


https://cached-assets.patriotpost.us/images/2017-07-10-9b888ac3_large.jpg

KD, Jobs so many jobs, so many paychecks so much winning said...

Blogger Loretta said...
Roger didn't think of that on his own..."

Yep, every single time he attempts to discuss anything economic he fails and flails , it is so cute, her face gets red , she stomps her feet and then runs off, much like jane, only ALky wears pumps, Jane opts for heals when he going after the boys in a very in-Christian way.

KD, Comey's Diaper is Leaking again said...

Get this lack of legal and moral and ethical bs from liberals defending Former FBI Political shill Comey.

The classified information that he disclosed, is unclassified because it was his notes and his recollections.

Gawd how I hope that is his defense on why he is a leaker.

opie said...

CH the plagiarizer said.
Comey also suggested that he could make personal memos of meetings he had with the President, and that those memos because his personal property as a private citizen.

That turned out (by all accounts) to be a faulty assumption

Your speculation based on your plagiarized C&P.

opie said...

CH the BSer posted

t this point there is no dispute that the Government (not James Comey) owns those memos and whatever information is attached.

Again, that your bona fides of anything law is nothing more than your speculation and opinion. The only thing you proved once again is you completely selling out to trump and his lies.

Anonymous said...




More than half of the memos former FBI Director James Comey wrote as personal recollections of his conversations with President Trump about the Russia investigation have been determined to contain classified information, according to interviews with officials familiar with the documents.

[...]

But when the seven memos Comey wrote regarding his nine conversations with Trump about Russia earlier this year were shown to Congress in recent days, the FBI claimed all were, in fact, deemed to be government documents.

http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/341225-comeys-private-memos-on-trump-conversations-contained-classified


comey SHOULD be in serious trouble. but i suspect the Feckless Bureau of Incompetence will find a way to let him off the hook.


C.H. Truth said...

Actually Opie - the only thing I cut and pasted was the oath that member of the FBI take.

If you want to argue that we shouldn't use the FBI oath as a means to make a determination, because it's plagiarism - I think you have a warped sense of what plagiarism actually is.

wphamilton said...

If the memos that Comey leaked contained classified information, then that would be problematic. However, there is nothing illegal about Comey writing a classified memo.

If true, it makes him a liar when he told Congress that he deliberately kept classified information out of his memos. But as I told this blog before his testimony, we already knew that we couldn't trust him so it shouldn't come as any surprise. For readers of this site anyway.

Commonsense said...

If he lied when he told Congress that he deliberately kept classified information out of his memos then he committed perjury.

Last time I check that was illegal.

caliphate4vr said...

5 Ways Obamacare Proves That Government-Run Health Care Is a Disaster

Myballs said...

So investigation into Sanders wife heating up, Podesta makes 35M from russian investment. But neither reported by big three networks.

Instead still all trump all the time.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous caliphate4vr said...

5 Ways Obamacare Proves That Government-Run Health Care Is a Disaster
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

interesting.

those of us who have been paying attention only need one example to prove that gov-run healthcare is a disaster:

the VA.

Anonymous said...

C.H. Truth said...

Actually Opie - the only thing I cut and pasted was the oath that member of the FBI take.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

perhaps 0pie is suggesting that FBI personnel should not be held to the oath that they take, and comey and mccabe seem to be in agreement.

how egregious of a crime must a democrat commit to be punished at the federal level?
it seems like there is nothing they are not allowed to get away with.

opie said...


perhaps 0pie is suggesting that FBI personnel should not be held to the oath that they take, and comey and macabre seem to be in agreement.

Perhaps you should develop a brain. I am sure you know for certain the exact standards all those people take. Again, like CH, the denier, pure speculation. Just like CH now admits to C&P, but says he only took to oath, and denies using the article as a model for his screed. IMO, highly improbable, like donnie Jr lying about his meeting and Jared missing another contact on his SF 84.....All BS as the house of cards is aflame. LOLOLOL All this spin is sadly amusing since you all believe Putin, and not our own intel.

Anonymous said...

I am sure you know for certain the exact standards all those people take.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


the oath defines and guides the standard. it's not ambiguous. beyond your intellectual reach perhaps, but for the rest of us it's very straightforward:


“all information acquired by me in connection with my official duties with the FBI and all official material to which I have access remain the property of the United States of America."


so far so good.


"I will not reveal, by any means, any information or material from or related to FBI files or any other information acquired by virtue of my official employment to any unauthorized recipient without prior official written authorization by the FBI.”


huh. well there you go.


the dishonorable james comey seems to have had issues with both of those basic principles and guidelines. inability to comprehend perhaps, which would make him an idiot, or, more likely, he's just a corrupt democrat scumbag who seems to have fooled a lot of people into believing he was a pillar of integrity.

he certainly has a flair for the dramatic though. i mean, didn't he leap over tall building with a single bound to reach john ashcroft's bedside?



Anonymous said...



Yes, the memos were leaked.

As I previously wrote, various legal experts went on the air on CNN and other cable news programs to dismiss the allegation (that a few of us printed) that Comey “leaked” his now famous memos detailing meetings with the president. Experts declared that leaks by definition only involve classified information — a facially ridiculous position that was widely stated with complete authority. Whether someone is prosecuted for a leak is a different question but a leak is the release of nonpublic information, not just classified information. University of Pennsylvania Law Professor Claire Finkelstein, CNN Legal Analyst Michael Zeldin, Fordham Law Professor Jed Shugerman, and others dismissed the notion that such memos could be deemed “leaks.”

Comey was a leaker, and he leaked for the oldest of motivations in Washington: to protect himself and hurt his opponents. Comey knew he would be called before the Congress and that these memos would be demanded by both his own former investigators as well as congressional investigators. That could have happened in a matter of days but Comey decided to use a friend to leak the content of the memos to the media (after giving the memos to his friend). In doing so, Comey took control of the media narrative and was lionized by the media.

Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. He was cited in the Senate Homeland Security Committee report on media leaks during the Trump administration.

http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/the-administration/341320-opinion-why-does-the-media-still-portray-james-comey-as



i'm old enough to remember when jonathan turley was reliably a man of the left. it appears that even he has tired of the liberal's bullshit.

opie said...

it's not ambiguous. beyond your intellectual reach perhaps, but for the rest of us it's very straightforward:

Your speculation. Maybe if you had a modicum of credibility you make a statement of opinion which IMHO is worthless as loretta's, Idiot