Comey on DOJ IG report: A ‘sorry we lied about you’ would be nice

James Comey said Thursday that he’d like “those who defamed” him to say “sorry” after a Department of Justice internal watchdog found the former FBI director did not leak classified information to the media.

Comey, however, did leak information that including details about ongoing investigations to a friend who later shared it with The New York Times, according to the report. It also concluded that the former FBI chief mishandled classified information by not alerting the bureau that he was in possession of such FBI records, despite claiming these memos as personal recollections.

“DOJ IG ‘found no evidence that Comey or his attorneys released any of the classified information contained in any of the memos to members of the media.’ I don’t need a public apology from those who defamed me, but a quick message with a ‘sorry we lied about you’ would be nice,” Comey tweeted.

“And to all those who’ve spent two years talking about me ‘going to jail’ or being a ‘liar and a leaker’—ask yourselves why you still trust people who gave you bad info for so long, including the president.”

DOJ IG “found no evidence that Comey or his attorneys released any of the classified information contained in any of the memos to members of the media.” I don’t need a public apology from those who defamed me, but a quick message with a “sorry we lied about you” would be nice.

— James Comey (@Comey) August 29, 2019

And to all those who’ve spent two years talking about me “going to jail” or being a “liar and a leaker”—ask yourselves why you still trust people who gave you bad info for so long, including the president.

— James Comey (@Comey) August 29, 2019

Comey’s tweet appears geared toward President Trump and his GOP allies, who have alleged that Comey illegally leaked classified information to the press.

They are likely to celebrate Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report, which found that Comey violated FBI policies over his handling of official memos containing classified information.

“Comey violated Department and FBI policies, and the terms of his FBI Employment Agreement, by retaining copies of Memos 2, 4, 6, and 7 after he was removed as Director, regardless of each Memo’s classification level,” the report reads. “As a departing FBI employee, Comey was required to relinquish any official documents in his possession and to seek specific authorization from the FBI in order to personally retain any FBI documents. Comey failed to comply with these requirements.”

“Once he knew [in June 2017] that the FBI had classified portions of Memo 2, Comey failed to immediately notify the FBI that he had previously given Memo 2 to his attorneys,” it continues.

During a 2017 Senate hearing, Comey testified that he showed copies of the memo to a close friend whom he asked to share the information contained in it with a reporter at The New York Times.

“I thought that might prompt the appointment of a special counsel. I asked a close friend to do it,” Comey said during the hearing.

This, however, was the first time the FBI learned that he had made such disclosures, catching his own agency flat-footed.

“The FBI did not learn that Comey had shared any of the Memos with anyone outside the FBI until Comey’s June 8, 2017 congressional testimony,” the report said.

“Comey made public sensitive investigative information related to an ongoing FBI investigation, information he had properly declined to disclose while still FBI Director during his March 20, 2017 congressional testimony,” it continues.

–Updated at 11:29 a.m.