Judicial Watch Sues Justice Department for Communications about Former FBI Director Comey’s Controversial Senate Testimony

Did Mueller Coordinate with Comey On Anti-Trump Testimony

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice for all records of communications relating to former FBI Director James Comey’s controversial testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:17-cv-02316)).

Judicial Watch sued after the Justice Department failed to respond to an August 14, 2017, FOIA request seeking:

All records of communications between the Department of Justice and former FBI Director James Comey prior to and regarding Comey’s testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on June 8, 2017.

Fox News reported: “A source close to James Comey tells Fox News the former FBI director’s Senate testimony has been ‘closely coordinated’ with Robert Mueller, whom the Justice Department appointed as special counsel to oversee the Russia investigation.”

On June 8, 2017, Comey gave testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, in which he admitted: “I asked a friend of mine to share the content of the memo with a reporter [for The New York Times]. I didn’t do it myself for a variety of reasons, but I asked him to because I thought that might prompt the appointment of a special counsel.”

In his testimony Comey detailed multiple conversations with President Trump. Comey confirmed he told President Trump three times that he was not a target of investigation and testified about President Trump’s firing of him.

On May 16, 2017, The New York Times reported that it received a leaked memorandum from former Director Comey detailing a conversation between President Trump and Comey regarding the FBI’s investigation of potential Russian interference in the 2016 United States presidential election.

Judicial Watch is pursuing numerous additional FOIA lawsuits (see here, here, here, and here) relating to former Director Comey’s memoranda and FBI exit records.

Judicial Watch also sent Acting FBI Director Andrew G. McCabe a warning letter concerning the FBI’s legal responsibility under the Federal Records Act (FRA) to recover records, including memos Comey subsequently leaked to the media, unlawfully removed from the Bureau by former Director James Comey.

“Mr. Comey may have violated the law in leaking these memos to the media,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “It would be a scandal if Comey coordinated his Senate testimony with Mr. Mueller’s special counsel office. That we have had to sue in federal court speaks volumes.”

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