Why Special Counsel Robert Mueller Can't Avoid Charging  James Comey With Theft of Classified Information

[It's Because Comey's Already Admitted To Committing The Crime Under Oath]

First, let me explain why Special Counsel Robert Mueller is going to charge Comey with theft of classified information, since there's really no reason to do any further investigation on that.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller

Read this revealing exchange during Comey's public testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on June 8th. 

Former FBI Director James Comey, admitting to the Senate Intelligence Committee on June 8th that he took classified documents with him after he was fired

Comey took 7 memos with him when he left the FBI after being fired by President Donald Trump on May 9th. 

Documents that contain classified information by their very nature are not 'personal papers'.  They do not belong to a private individual and cannot be retained by that individual once their employment ends. 

It has been reported by The Hill that sources say 4 of the 7 memos Comey took contained classified information, and are now clearly marked as having such information in them. 

But we didn't need this revelation from The Hill to know that several of the memos Comey took with him from the FBI contained classified information.  As you can see from the above exchange with Senator Martin Heinrich [R-New Mexico], Comey openly discussed the fact that at least TWO of the memos he had in his possession weeks following his firing from the FBI were written so as to be classified and contain classified information.  Comey clearly states that 1 of the 7 memos was written down immediately following a classified briefing at Trump Tower. 

Comey has publicly admitted - under oath, mind you - that he

1) took documents containing classified info with him after being fired as FBI Director

2) gave 4 of these documents - 1 of which likely had classified info in it - to a person with no security clearance, Columbia Law Professor Daniel Richman.

That's not just 1 illegal act, that's TWO separate illegal acts.

Mueller's investigators have had more than 1 & 1/2 months to determine:

1) how many memos Comey took with him from the FBI

2) how many of those memos that Comey illegally took with him contained information that was classified

3) which particular 4 of the 7 memos Comey handed off to Richman, and if 1 or more of those memos contained classified information.

In point of fact Mueller's investigators know exactly which 4 memos Comey gave Richman, since Richman has now given them back.

And if one of those 4 memos contained classified information, there is no way Comey avoids being charged for this.

Recall 2 years ago a sitting CIA director, General David Petraeus, was charged, tried and convicted of allowing unauthorized access to classified info.

Former CIA Director General David Petraeus

Petraeus had jotted down classified information in what he considered a 'personal' journal. He then showed the contents to his biographer - and  mistress.  

IMPORTANT: Petraeus' journal was not 'marked' classified.  It didn't need to be.  A document containing classified information is classified by it's very nature, not just because somebody marked it as containing classified information.  

David Petraeus with Paula Broadwell

Petraeus' mistress, Paula Broadwell, as it so happens, had a national security clearance, but could only have viewed such sensitive material in a secure facility, not in a private home.

Note that none of the classified info in Petraeus' journal was EVER leaked to media. He just SHOWED it to an authorized person at an UNauthorized location.  Petraeus attempted to argue the journal was his own personal papers.  Sound familiar?

The court rejected that defense.

Petraeus was fired, charged, tried, convicted & sentenced to 2 yrs probation and a 100k fine.

Now consider this: at the time Petraeus committed this crime he was STILL the CIA Director. He still had legal access to the classified info.  What got him in trouble was SHOWING that classified info to someone authorized to see it at an unsecure location, a private residence. 

Comey did something FAR worse.

Comey had lost the job as FBI Director. He'd been FIRED. He no longer was supposed to have ANY access to these documents with classified information. His taking them with him upon leaving the FBI adds a whole new offense beyond what Petraeus did. 

Petraeus got a 2 years probation & 100k fine for showing Broadwell classified info he still had legal access to BUT he showed it to her an an illegal location.

Comey can't say that. He no longer had legal access to any of these memos, much less the rumored 4 that were classified. He committed an act of THEFT by taking these documents even before he ever showed them to anyone else. 

Just ADMITTING he took memos that had classified information in them was bad enough.  If Mueller's investigators have discovered 1 of the 4 memos Comey gave Richman had classified info in it, Comey's crime would be far worse than Petraeus' and it would require a more severe sentence. 

Not only did Comey illegally take documents with him from the FBI, he compounds the crime by handing them off to Richman.

People who keep harping on the fact the one memo that Richman anonymously leaked to the New York Times was one of the 3 memos that wasn't classified are missing the point. NONE of these memos had to be leaked for Comey to have committed two illegal acts. 

Now, all this is public record.  Comey's already admitted to all this. He took classified documents with him from the FBI.  Richman has given the 4 memos back to Mueller's investigative team. It wouldn't take long to determine if 1 or more had classified info.

Unlike Hillary Clinton, who never EVER admitted to doing anything illegal at all during the email scandal, Comey has already admitted to theft of classified documents under oath.  

How many more months of investigation would be needed to determine if Comey had illegally taken classified information with him and then given someone with no security clearance access to some of it? 

Mueller's investigators already have all the evidence they need to make such a determination.  

Action should come soon.