Were James Comey's leaks Lawful? WP Analysys

[Kber]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2017/06/08/were-james-comeys-leaks-lawful/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_pe-leaks-740pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.31f6396a1c40

During his Senate testimony Thursday, former FBI director James B. Comey admitted to being an anonymous leaker — a phrase that now has negative connotations. President Trump’s lawyer even hinted that Comey may deserve prosecution.

Let’s set the record straight. The vast majority of anonymous leaks are fully legal, many serve the public interest, they follow in a tradition widely practiced by our nation’s Founding Fathers, and they are recognized as fully protected speech by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The law is clear and was most recently tested in a case pitting a federal employee whistleblower, fired for leaking information to MSNBC, against both the Bush and Obama administrations.

It started on July 26, 2003, when the Department of Homeland Security issued a confidential internal notice warning that al-Qaeda was planning attacks on U.S. airlines. All U.S. air marshals were briefed on the plot, which included smuggling weapons onto flights and having hijackers “overpower” airline crew. But within days of this warning, DHS canceled planting marshals on numerous airline flights. Air Marshal Robert MacLean protested to his supervisors and the DHS inspector general. He was told that the Transportation Security Administration wanted “to save money on hotel costs because there was no more money in the budget” and that there was nothing he could do to change the policy.

More at the link above

[beachbum bob]

1. I think trump's tweet about "tapes" of their conversations may negate anything type of

jeopardy that Comey would have in releasing "unclassified" memos

[jmg257]

2. The meat...

"Comey’s admission — that he gave a memo documenting a conversation with Trump to a friend to be leaked to the press — is also legal. Was the information classified or secret as a matter of a federal law? Absolutely not. Did he reveal a matter of public interest? Yes. Did Comey have a right to expose these facts anonymously? Yes."

[Thomas Hurt]

3. Who is the leaker....

Trump fires Comey on 5-9
Trump blabs about discussions with and the reasons for firing Comey to Lester Holt on 5/11
Trump makes his "tapes" Tweet on 5/12
NYT memo story near as I can tell is 5-15

[Kablooie]

4. Comey was also a private citizen when he released the info.

[Gothmog]

5. The release of the memos is not a crime