Federal prosecutors revealed Monday they have unearthed a trove of personal emails showing then-FBI Director James Comey openly talked in the days before the 2016 election that he expected to be working soon for President-elect Hillary Clinton and was being kept apprised by a top FBI aide on efforts to anonymously provide information to the news media.
“Well done my friend. Who knew this would. E so uh fun,” Comey wrote in a November 2016 email after then-FBI special government employee Dan Richman briefed the FBI director on Richman’s efforts to provide information and guidance to The New York Times on an article involving Clinton’s email scandal.
The emails were referenced in a bombshell court filing by acting U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan and her deputy Tyler Lemmons in which the government rejected Comey’s argument that he was being maliciously prosecuted for misleading Congress about actions he took as FBI director.
Halligan cited and attached to the filing numerous emails in which Comey was clearly aware that Richman was working to provide information anonymously to news outlets about the Clinton email case and that he expected those outreach efforts would end with Clinton defeating Donald Trump in the November 2016 election.
“Some day they will figure it out. And as [Individual 1 and Individual 2] point out, my decision will be one a president-elect Clinton will be very grateful for (although that wasnât why I did it),” Comey wrote Richman in one such email.
Halligan’s filing said the emails showed Comey was aware and encouring Richman’s contacts with media, contrary to his claims to Congress.
“Consistent with the above-described correspondence, Richman corresponded extensively with members of the media regarding or on behalf of the defendant, including in an anonymous capacity,” the court filing argued.
You can read that filing here.
Comey is charged with making false statements and obstructing Congress concerning testimony in 2020 in which he stood by earlier 2017 testimony saying he did not approve of anonymous leaks to the news media involving high-profile cases involving Clinton’s emails and Donald Trump’s now-debunked ties to a Russian plot to influence the election.
Monday’s court filing also raised the possibility that prosecutors will argue Comey misled Congress about another element of his testimony, this involving whether he was aware of a U.S. intelligence intercept in summer 2016 indicating Clinton had approved a plan to smear Trump with the Russia allegations.Â
The court filing revealed prosecutors have specific handwritten notes — whichi were hidden in a secret room at the FBI — indicating Comey was aware of the intelligence.
“The discovery of the handwritten notes is relevant considering the defendantâs prior testimony on September 30, 2020. Of note, during that hearing, the defendant was questioned by Senator Graham of South Carolina and Senator Hawley of Missouri,” the filing noted. “The questions focused on whether the defendant remembered ‘being taught’ of ‘U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clintonâs approval of a plan concerning U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russian hackers hampering U.S. elections as a means of distracting the public from her use of a private email server.’
“The defendant responded by stating that ‘it doesnât ring any bells with me’ and ‘I donât know what that refers to’ and ‘I donât remember receiving anything that is described in that letter,'” the filing added. “Despite this testimony, the defendantâs handwritten notes dated September 26, 2016, read: ‘HRC plan to tie Trump.'”
