Lawyer Looks to Disbar Former FBI Chief Comey for Lying Under Oath

Former FBI Director James Comey testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on June 8, 2017. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Lawyer Ty Clevenger recently filed a grievance with the New York bar accusing former FBI Director James Comey of lying to Congress and potentially destroying evidence in the investigations into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The grievance states that Comey “gave materially false testimony to Congress,” and violated several of the New York Rules of Professional Conduct, according to an Oct. 18 report from The Washington Times. It also requests renewed grievances against former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, based on Comey’s claim that she pressured him to downplay the Clinton investigation.

The Epoch Times reported on Sept. 1 that Comey may have lied under oath by drafting his letter to drop charges of Clinton before the FBI interviewed her or other key witnesses.

According to an Aug. 31 press release from the Senate judiciary committee, “Comey began drafting a statement to announce the conclusion of the Clinton email investigation in April or May of 2016, before the FBI interviewed up to 17 key witnesses including former Secretary Clinton and several of her closest aides.”

The FBI recently confirmed that Comey began drafting his statement regarding Clinton prior to interviewing her by releasing his drafts. While they are almost entirely redacted, they show Comey wrote them on May 2, 2016. The FBI interviewed Clinton two months later on July 2, 2016.

The claim in the judiciary committee press release contradicts Comey’s testimony before the committee on Sept. 28, where he stated he made his decision to not recommend charges for Clinton only “after” interviewing her. Comey had added, “All I can do is tell you again, the decision was made after that, because I didn’t know what was going to happen during that interview.”

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During an Oct. 18 hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Attorney General Jeff Sessions commented on the seriousness of Comey’s actions when he was asked about why the Trump administration fired Comey as FBI director.

“I don’t think it’s been fully understood the significance of the error that Mr. Comey made on the Clinton matter,” Sessions said, noting that it was the first time in his experience he had ever heard of a major case where “the Department of Justice prosecutors were involved in an investigation, that the investigative agency announces the closure of the investigation.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feKfPa9vz8U

Sessions said that when Comey testified around that time, “He said he thought he did the right thing and would do it again.” Sessions also said Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein referred to the handling of the Clinton investigation as “a usurpation of the position of the Department of Justice, the Attorney General’s position, and that particularly we were concerned that he reaffirmed that he would do it again.”

President Donald Trump also weighed in on the issue, and stated in a series of tweets on Oct. 18, “Wow, FBI confirms report that James Comey drafted letter exonerating Crooked Hillary Clinton long before investigation was complete. Many people not interviewed, including Clinton herself. Comey stated under oath that he didn’t do this-obviously a fix? Where is Justice Dept?”

Trump added, “As it has turned out, James Comey lied and leaked and totally protected Hillary Clinton. He was the best thing that ever happened to her!”

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters on Oct. 18, according to a transcript, that “the White House hasn’t and won’t offer a legal opinion on Comey’s conduct. But, in fact, to the contrary, the White House has actually deferred, as it should, any and all legal questions regarding Director Comey to the Department of Justice. That’s the appropriate venue for those things to be dealt with.”