CNN filed a lawsuit in federal court Thursday to force the FBI to make former Director James Comey’s memos documenting his interactions with President Trump about the Russia investigation public.
“Despite high public interest in the content of the memos, Comey’s testimony that the records are not classified and a ruling from the Justice Department that the FBI should expedite CNN’s FOIA request for the memos, the FBI has not provided either the documents or a reason to withhold them,” according to the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
CNN, according to a story on its website, contends the FBI withholding the memos from public release “constitutes a violation of the federal Freedom of Information Act.”
Comey, testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee last week, described the contents of contemporaneous memos he wrote about his conversations with Trump.
In the memos, Comey recalls Trump said he hoped the FBI could stop investigating Mike Flynn, the president’s former national security adviser.
After Trump tweeted a warning he or his associates may have recorded conversations with Comey, the former FBI director released the memos to a friend, Columbia University professor Daniel Richman.
Richman, at the request of Comey, revealed the details of the memos to the New York Times.
Comey said Richman returned his copy of the memos to the FBI.
He also said special prosecutor Robert Mueller has possession of the memos as part of his investigation of Russia and the 2016 election, which now includes the possibility that Trump obstructed justice.
