Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., disputes ex-FBI Director James Comey’s definition of a “leak.”
During an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier on Thursday, Comey denied that he ever leaked the content of his memos, which recount his interactions with President Trump. He rationalized that his memos were personal documents, like a “diary,” and claimed he did not think the contents of his memos were classified, including one conveyed to the media through a friend.
Speaking with Fox News’ Tucker Carlson afterwards, Gowdy said Comey “has a definition of the word leak that no one else has.”
“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.”
.@TGowdySC on @Comey #SpecialReport interview: “Jim Comey has a definition of the word ‘leak’ that no one else has. What he says is a leak is what the rest of us call a felony.” #Tucker https://t.co/RggSJ7Gsfm pic.twitter.com/vgnnMXBlhc
— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 27, 2018
During a CNN town hall Wednesday evening, 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 said.
“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.”
Comey is under investigation by the Justice Department’s inspector general, which is looking into whether Comey complied with agency policy in the handling of information that was found to be classified in some of the memos he wrote about his conversations with Trump.
Redacted versions of those memos were released last week after the DOJ sent them to Congress.
