Trump Again Slams Comey Over 'Illegal' Leaks of Classified Info
US President Donald Trump again slammed former FBI chief James Comey on Monday over leaking classified information to the media.
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On Sunday, The Hill newspaper reported citing its sources that over half of the memos, which Comey wrote as "personal recollections" of his conversations with Trump about Russia's alleged meddling into the 2016 US presidential election, had contained classified information.
The officials, familiar with the matter, told the media outlet that four of the nine memos, had contained "secret" or "confidential" level of secrecy.
Mr. James Comey. Photo: AP. |
"James Comey leaked CLASSIFIED INFORMATION to the media. That is so illegal!" Trump said on Twitter.
On June 8, Comey testified in a US Senate Intelligence Committee hearing that he made unauthorized disclosures of privileged conversations with Trump. The ex-FBI chief gave the memorandums documenting his interactions with US president to a friend, asking him to leaked them to the media.
Since the beginning of the United States' last presidential race, US media have speculated about Trump's campaign team's alleged ties to Russia and claimed that Moscow might have influenced the results of the election, a claim Russia has repeatedly denied.
In May, Trump fired Comey over the poor handling of the investigation into the Hillary Clinton private server and email scandal. However, many believe that the decision is connected with the probe into alleged ties of Trump's campaign team to Russia, as Comey reportedly was seeking funding to extend the bureau’s inquiry. Kremlin, as well as the White House have repeatedly refuted these allegations.