COMEY: INDICTMENT, ARRAIGNMENT, A CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY?

TOP LINE

The indictment of former FBI Director James Comey for an alleged false statement to Congress and for obstructing its investigation may be just the beginning.

With 24 years covering the FBI and Justice Department, I believe the two-page indictment may be a holding charge, with the potential for a more complex, superseding indictment in the future that adds more counts.

This is not only possible, but plausible in Comey's case.  Records recently declassified by FBI Director Kash Patel, codenamed "ARCTIC HAZE” reveal Comey’s wide-ranging media leak strategy to shape the narrative about high profile cases like the FBI’s Clinton email probe and the Trump Russia Collusion case.

To regular readers of this newsletter, this is not new.  Comey also used his media leak strategy to protect his reputation after he was roundly criticized in both probes for exceeding his authority.

In a video posted on Instagram, Comey stated, “I have great confidence in the federal judicial system and I am innocent, so let's have a trial, and keep the faith.”

Comey’s arraignment is scheduled for October 9 at the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia where terrorism and national security cases are routinely handled. Readers may wonder why this venue was selected.   

I have regularly reported from the courthouse.  In this instance, I suspect the venue was selected because it is more favorable than Washington D.C. and Comey allegedly lied to Congress via zoom testimony during COVID.  Comey lives in Virginia. 

DEEP DIVE

Four days before Comey’s indictment, I got a tip.

I was following up on a recent investigation when a trusted contact told me to expect “big news” this week. When pressed, they offered nothing further.

With additional reporting, I suspected the Comey investigation was coming to a head. The five year statute of limitations for lying to Congress expired in a matter of days.

Given there are few coincidences in Washington D.C., I also believed that a recently declassified FBI investigation codenamed ARCTIC HAZE could be part of the case. In mid-August I was among the first to report on the declassified records. I also confirmed a renewed investigative interest in the former Director’s May 2017 congressional testimony.  

Under oath, Comey denied he had leaked to the media nor had he authorized others to leak information on his behalf.  We discussed this testimony in an earlier newsletter. 

Here is the 2017 exchange:

Grassley: Director Comey have you ever been an anonymous source in news reports about matters relating to the Trump investigation or the Clinton investigation?

Comey: Never

Grassley: Have you ever authorized someone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports about the Trump investigation or the Clinton investigation?

Comey: No

Grassley: Has any classified information relating to President Trump or his associates been declassified and shared with the media?

Comey: Not to my knowledge

The ARCTIC HAZE records reinforced Comey’s legal jeopardy.

FREE PREVIEW 🔓️ 

Catherine Herridge Reports Is Backed By Readers Like You

Our team relies on your subscriptions. No corporations. No pressure from advertisers. We can follow the facts wherever they lead.

Please consider supporting our independent, fact based journalism. Your support makes it possible!

According to the records,  two years before Comey’s congressional testimony, ”In 2015, Comey instructed the FBI to hire (Daniel) Richman (a Columbia University Law Professor) as a Special Government Employee and to grant him a Top Secret clearance …Comey also used Richman as a liaison to the media.”

The memo continued, “Richman contacted journalists to correct stories critical of Comey…” and Richman “had been a source” for the New York Times that “...quoted Richman several times both on the record and on background, in stories regarding Jim Comey.”

While Comey told senators, under oath, that he had never authorized anyone at the FBI to leak to the media, the records showed Comey personally instructed the FBI to hire his friend, Richman, who acted as a de facto PR media rep for Comey and his agenda.

It is not clear from the new indictment which leak or leaks are at the heart of the Comey prosecution: the anti-Trump Russia Collusion narrative or the Clinton email probe codenamed MIDYEAR EXAM.

However, a close reading of the records suggests the leak may be related to the Clinton email case.   

The remainder of this newsletter is for paid subscribers only.

Catherine Herridge Reports: Telling the stories we could not tell before. Where the facts have a power all their own.

✅ Whistleblower investigations that demand government accountability and get results with long overdue benefits awarded to US service members.

✅ Analysis that is fact driven and unafraid to challenge the prevailing narrative.

✅ Unlimited access to our online archive where you can read previous editions of the newsletter.