During Former FBI Director James Comeys’ testimony, based largely on written records he made after one-on-one conversations with President Trump from January to April, he said he asked a friend to leak the contents of his memos on conversations with Trump to a New York Times reporter.
Comey testified to the Senate Intelligence Committee that his action was prompted by the president’s tweet after his firing about possible “tapes” of their conversations, Fox News reports.
James Comey better hope that there are no "tapes" of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 12, 2017
Comey said he “woke up in the middle of the night” and realized he should share the memos.
Comey tells Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, why he decided to ask a close friend to leak the content of his memos with President Trump with a reporter.
“I asked him to [share it] because I thought that might prompt the appointment of a special counsel,” he told Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME).
Comey said the friend is a professor at Columbia Law School.
The former FBI director was fired on May 9. The New York Times report on Comey’s memos was published a week later.
