Sen. Lindsey Graham said it is “stunning” if Attorney General William Barr declined to prosecute former FBI Director James Comey for likely leaking classified information.
During an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, the Senate Judiciary chairman was asked to react a report Wednesday evening that focused on Comey’s leak of one of his memos describing an interaction he had with President Trump.
“If Bill Barr decided not to prosecute on disclosing the memos, I accept his judgment. I’ve known him for 20 years,” Graham said.
The South Carolina Republican said he has “no desire” for Barr to be like Robert Mueller, referring to his criticism of the former special counsel’s prosecution of Trump’s associates during the Russia investigation.
“I want him to do what he thinks is right by the law and not prosecute anybody if you don’t think the case is there, because somebody else got mistreated is no reason to continue that practice,” Graham said. “If it’s true, and we will know pretty soon, it’s stunning, beyond stunning.”
Graham predicted an inspector general report will come out in a “few weeks.”
The Hill reported Inspector General Michael Horowitz reached out to prosecutors about one of the memos Comey leaked to a friend, which detailed a conversation he had with Trump, after he was fired by Trump in May 2017. Although prosecutors found the watchdog’s findings compelling, they decided against prosecution under classified information protection laws because of there being too much uncertainty surrounding Comey’s intent. He has denied leaking classified information in his memos.
Comey is also a possible target of Horowitz’s separate investigation into alleged Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act abuse. It is also likely that Comey’s actions as FBI director will be scrutinized during the review of the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation, being led by Barr and the U.S. attorney in Connecticut, John Durham.
Graham praised Barr’s “prosecutorial discretion,” and looked ahead to the other internal investigations that could be news for Comey.
“And if he does bring a charge against Comey after doing this, I’d hate to be Comey,” he said.
