Longtime friend to Trump foe James Comey subpoenaed in new leak investigation

By Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN

(CNN) — A federal grand jury on Monday subpoenaed Daniel Richman, a longtime friend and adviser to James Comey, in a renewed probe into whether the former FBI Director improperly shared sensitive information with the media, according to a source familiar with the investigation.

The suspected leak — which involved memos Comey wrote about his meetings with President Donald Trump — had previously been examined during President Donald Trump’s first term, but prosecutors declined to bring charges.

The subpoena suggests the Justice Department has opened a new investigation into the matter, marking the department’s third attempt to target Comey, one of Trump’s most prominent political foes.

Comey is already facing charges that he threatened Trump with a social media post depicting shells that spelled out “8647.” The term 86 is sometimes used to refer to getting rid or removing something and Trump is the 47th president.

He was also facing charges for allegedly making false statements to Congress, but those charges were thrown out by a judge last year.

The subpoena of Richman was first reported by Fox News.

CNN has reached out to Richman for comment.

The controversy over the alleged leaks to the New York Times began in the early days of Trump’s first administration. After he was fired as FBI Director by Trump, Comey shared at least one memo describing his conversations with the president with a New York Times reporter.

Richman has said that while he did share the contents of one memo, “the substance of the memo passed on to the Times was not marked classified and to my knowledge remains unclassified.”

The-CNN-Wire
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