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Justice Department declines to prosecute Comey over memos

James Comey
Posted at 3:39 PM, Aug 01, 2019
and last updated 2019-08-01 17:39:07-04

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is declining to prosecute former FBI Director James Comey over his handling of memos he wrote documenting personal interactions with President Donald Trump.

That's according to a person familiar with the matter, who was not authorized to discuss it and spoke on condition of anonymity.

A lawyer for Comey declined to comment. A spokesman for the Justice Department's inspector general, which had been investigating, did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Comey wrote multiple memos about conversations he had with the president in the weeks and months before he was fired in May 2017. He authorized a friend to describe the contents of one to the media days after he was fired. He said his hope was to spur the appointment of a special counsel.