Former FBI Director James B. Comey was a witness in special counsel Robert Mueller’s and his memos detailing his interactions with President Trump were part of the evidence reviewed in the Russia probe, according to recently released court documents from 2017.
The revelation also confirmed Mr. Comey’s memos included more sensitive information than originally thought. Released by the Justice Department Monday, the filing says the memos include “highly sensitive information from the pending investigation” that were not part of Mr. Comey’s testimony.
Among the more sensitive information in the memos are the identities of witnesses and confidential informants, investigative steps not yet taken and dates of meetings.
The notes are also said to include information concerning Mr. Trump’s foreign policy decisions and “non-public interactions” between U.S. government officials and those with “specific foreign governments and officials.”
In the filing, high-ranking FBI official David Archey said the FBI and Special Counsel’s Office determined disclosure of the Comey memos, or at least a portion them, “could reasonably be expected to adversely affect the pending Russia investigation.” Mr. Archey added that Mr. Comey’s memos have been “incorporated into a pending investigation and compiled as investigative records.”
“The Comey memos are his contemporaneous notes about incidents that are of interest in that investigation and are considered witness statements and therefore evidence in the Russia investigation,” Mr. Archey said.
President Trump fired Mr. Comey on May 9, 2017. The former FBI director then leaked one of the memos to a friend, which later turned up in a May 16, 2017, New York Times report.
Mr. Comey later told Congress that he leaked the memo to initiate a special counsel probe. One day after The New York Times report, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein selected Mr. Mueller to start the Russia probe.
The filing was disclosed as part of a Freedom of Information Act request.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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