A scathing report released Thursday by the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General found former FBI Director James Comey violated bureau policies and his employment agreement with his handling of official memos.
The investigation concerned memos detailing Comey’s interactions and conversations with President Trump.
“We conclude that Comey’s retention, handling, and dissemination of certain Memos violated Department and FBI policies, and his FBI Employment Agreement,” the report states. It noted that “much of the content of the Memos was directly tied to FBI investigative activities.”
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz declined to make a recommendation as to whether to charge the former FBI chief. But he said Comey broke FBI policies by seeking to share unauthorized information about ongoing investigations with a friend — who then gave the information to The New York Times two months after Comey was removed from the FBI by Trump.
Comey was removed from the FBI as the agency investigated Russia’s intervention in the 2016 presidential election. His firing immediately raised questions about whether Trump was seeking to obstruct an investigation into the election.
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05.14.2025