DOJ hands over Comey’s Trump memos to Congress
Former FBI Director James Comey’s memos about meetings with President Donald Trump have been handed over to Congress. The public will likely see a version from which classified information is redacted.
READ MORE: Comey’s memos on Trump meetings leaked online (FULL TEXT)
The redacted documents were sent over on Thursday evening to the chairs of the House Judiciary, Oversight and Intelligence committees. The originals, containing classified information, will be securely transferred on Friday, Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd informed the three chairs in a letter.
Boyd copied the ranking Democrats on all three committees, as well as Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
#BREAKING: DOJ has sent Comey's memos to Congress. pic.twitter.com/aOsEJNMIdZ
— Ryan Saavedra 🇺🇸 (@RealSaavedra) April 19, 2018
Earlier this week, House Judiciary chair Bob Goodlatte (R-Virginia), Oversight chair Trey Gowdy (R-South Carolina) and Intelligence chair Devin Nunes (R-California) told the Justice Department there was “no legal basis for withholding these materials from Congress.”
Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-New York), ranking member on the Judiciary committee, had protested the release of the documents on Thursday, saying that it would endanger the special counsel investigation and put Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in jeopardy of being placed in contempt of Congress.
Comey himself said he had no issue with Congress receiving the memos, however. “It's fine by me,” he told CNN's Jake Tapper on Thursday. “I don't care. I don't have any views on it. I’m totally fine with transparency.”
Comey revealed the existence of the memos after he was fired by President Donald Trump in May 2017. He leaked the contents of four memos to the press through a friend, and testified in the Senate that his intent was to have a special counsel appointed to investigate Trump.
The FBI initially said at least three memos contained classified information, later extending that to all seven. All of them were considered government property, and Comey’s possession of them was against FBI rules, the bureau said.
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