Comey's Gmails? 156 Have Been Released

He discussed sensitive FBI matters, says the Post
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 10, 2018 10:45 AM CST
Comey Discussed Sensitive FBI Business by Gmail
In this Thursday, June 8, 2017, file photo, former FBI director James Comey speaks during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill.   (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

Was it hypocrisy? While probing Hillary Clinton's emails, former FBI chief James Comey conducted business on his private Gmail account—including seven messages the Justice Dept. deemed too sensitive for public release, the New York Post reports. A Freedom of Information request obtained 156 of his emails, but 363 were held back for including private matters or in-house FBI communications, and seven were withheld for disclosing law enforcement techniques and procedures. A conservative watchdog that filed the request criticized Comey's emailing: "Using private email to conduct official government business endangers transparency and accountability, and that is why we sued the Department of Justice," says Cause of Action CEO John Vecchione.

In one case, Comey appears troubled by his use of private email while investigating Clinton: "Mobile is not sending emails," Comey writes, and asks that an aide email Comey's Senate testimony to the FBI chief's private account. "He [the aide] will need to send to personal email I suppose. Embarrassing for us." The Justice Department's inspector general revealed Comey's private email use in June, per CNN, but Comey said he never sent classified information by Gmail—a contention the Post says still "appears to be true." Clinton, who also contends she never sent classified information by personal email, mocked Comey over the IG's report: "But my emails," she tweeted. (Meanwhile, Russia and China are reportedly eavesdropping on President Trump's personal iPhone.)

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