Comey's release of Trump memo to newspaper draws criticism

WASHINGTON -- When former FBI director James Comey revealed Thursday he orchestrated a disclosure of damaging details about his conversations with President Donald Trump, he demonstrated his savvy use of media and his skills as a Washington operator.

He also kicked up a hornet's nest of questions about the legal and ethical implications of the move.

Trump's personal lawyer made Comey's secret gambit a central piece of his defense of the president against the fired lawman's testimony. Attorney Marc Kasowitz claimed Comey made "unauthorized disclosures" of privileged communications.

He said he would leave it to the "appropriate authorities" to determine whether Comey's plan should be investigated along with the leaks of material that have infuriated Trump. But Comey seemed unconcerned about that prospect when he acknowledged the move Thursday before a throng of cameras and a packed Senate intelligence committee hearing room.

With vivid detail, he told the panel when the idea dawned on him -- "in the middle of the night" -- and what moved him to act. He said he was reacting to Trump's cryptic tweet saying Comey had better hope there were no tapes of their disputed conversations about the Russia investigation into election-season hacking.

Comey said the president's message convinced him he needed to get his account, detailed in contemporaneous memos, out quickly.

"My judgment was, I needed to get that out into the public square. And so I asked a friend of mine to share the content of the memo with a reporter," Comey testified. "I asked him to, because I thought that might prompt the appointment of a special counsel."

The friend, who later was identified as Columbia University law professor Daniel Richman, read part of the memo to a reporter from The New York Times, according to the newspaper. The paper reported Trump had asked Comey to drop the investigation into former national-security adviser Michael Flynn.

Kasowitz has denied that account, but he also argued Comey's move "unilaterally and surreptitiously made unauthorized disclosures to the press of privileged communications with the president."

Comey contended the material was not classified or protected.