James Comey tries to plug ‘leak’ talk

While yes, Comey did reveal some new tidbits — for instance he disclosed that that he has already spoken with the Justice Department inspector general team as part of their investigation into classified matters regarding his memos — ultimately the main takeaway from the interview was an extension of an already hot topic: leaks.

Comey claimed the memos, which recount his interactions with President Trump before he was fired, were personal documents, akin to a “diary,” and therefore their disclosure did not constitute as leaks. Furthermore, Comey told Fox News’ Bret Baier that he did not think the contents of his memos were classified. He also said he gave four of his memos to his three-man legal team after his ouster in May 2017, and only returned them to the FBI after they decided that two of them had classified information.

[Opinion: Byron York: Is Comey telling the truth about his memos?]

This built upon what he said during the CNN town hall Wednesday evening, in which Comey explained that he thinks of a leak as “an unauthorized disclosure of classified information” — a definition that shocked host Anderson Cooper.

“Really? That’s it?” Cooper pressed.

“That’s how I thought of it as FBI director. We investigated leaks. Unauthorized disclosures,” Comey said. “The bottom line is, I see no credible claim by any serious person that that violated the law.”

Not everyone agrees.

Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., scoffed at Comey’s definition of a leak during an appearance on Fox News shortly after the former FBI director’s interview. “What he says is a leak is what the rest of us call a felony,” the former federal prosecutor said. “Leaking is disclosing a confidential conversation which is exactly what he did.”

Trump too, who has endured the brunt of Comey’s criticisms over the past two weeks, has repeatedly tweeted that Comey is a leaker — and one who “broke the law.”

While the debate on what constitutes an actual leak remains unsettled, newly disclosed information and Comey’s detailed breakdown of how he shared the contents of what he wrote flipped at least one naysayer.

Fox News legal analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano, who previously declared that Comey broke the law by sharing his memos, conceded he “jumped the gun” Thursday morning after viewing Comey’s “compelling” performance in the CNN town hall.

“I jumped the gun here the other day. Not knowing that professor Richman had a security clearance,” he said to the panel of “Fox & Friends.” “And one of you, I think, said to me: ‘Did Jim Comey break the law?’ I said it appears he did. I since have apologized, it now appears did he not.”

Comey has noted the importance of being a private citizen at the time he handed his friend, Daniel Richman, a law professor who it was revealed this week was a “special government employee,” a memo, the contents of which he wanted were shared with the New York Times at Comey’s behest. That memo, which was not classified, described how Trump expressed hope that Comey would drop the FBI’s investigation into then-national security adviser Michael Flynn. Comey testified before a Senate panel last year that he hoped the disclosure would lead to a special counsel — a wish that was fulfilled with the appointment of Robert Mueller, whose team continues the federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.

Comey didn’t always have the appetite to push back against the claim he was a leaker. During the interview that marked the beginning of his book tour — a sit-down with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos — Comey did not challenge the label when asked to comment on Trump’s tweets calling him a “leaker.”

“Look, it’s true, I mean, I’m the one who testified about it, that’s how people know about it, that I gave that unclassified — this is a whole nother conversation about whether you can leak unclassified information, I don’t want to get involved in that,” Comey said. “I gave that unclassified memo to my mind, who was also acting as my lawyer, but this wasn’t a lawyer task, and asked him to give it to a reporter. That is entirely appropriate.”

It was only after his redacted memos were sent to Congress last week, subsequently leaked to the media, and a report came out revealing the DOJ IG was conducting an investigation into his handling of the memos did Comey engage the conversation he initially declined to enter.

Since then, Comey has been quick to dictate what he thinks the investigation should not be about.

Both on Wednesday and Thursday Comey said that the IG looking into his handling of classified information would be “frivolous,” and asserted that he expects the forthcoming report from the watchdog to instead address whether he complied with agency policy.

While Comey’s not done yet — he has an interview lined up with “PBS NewsHour” on Monday — the towering 6-foot-8 figure, whose book is already a best-seller, marked the completion of his Fox News interview with a tweet, expressing his thanks for “good and tough questions from reporters across the spectrum and around the world.”

“Look forward to more,” he added.