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A Department of Justice Inspector General (IG) report concluded that former FBI Director James Comey violated bureau policies by retaining and leaking memos documenting his private conversations with President Donald Trump. While the watchdog sharply criticized his actions, the department declined to bring criminal charges against him.
The investigation centered on seven memoranda Comey wrote between January and April 2017 detailing his one-on-one interactions with the president. According to the findings, Comey kept copies of four of these memos in a personal safe at his home after his dismissal in May 2017. He later authorized a personal friend to share the contents of one memo, which was unclassified, with a journalist. Comey stated he did so to prompt the appointment of a special counsel to oversee the Russia investigation.
The official report from the Office of the Inspector General released in August 2019, found that the memos were official government records and that Comey's actions violated his FBI employment agreement and bureau policies. Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz wrote that Comey’s conduct “set a dangerous example for the over 35,000 current FBI employees.” However, the IG's office did not find evidence that Comey had disclosed classified information to the media.
This episode was one of several controversies that marked the end of Comey's tenure and its aftermath. His leadership had already faced intense scrutiny for his public statements regarding the investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server. Broader questions about the bureau's judgment during this period continued for years, culminating in the Durham report's sharp critique of the FBI's investigative origins regarding the 2016 Trump campaign. The IG’s findings added to the political firestorm surrounding the FBI, fueling debates about its independence and accountability. While Comey was not prosecuted for his handling of the memos, the incident damaged his reputation and that of the agency he once led. Internal problems with the FBI's procedures during this period were shown to extend beyond just its director, highlighting systemic issues the bureau needed to address.
