A federal grand jury issued a subpoena to a longtime friend and adviser of former FBI Director James Comey as part of a new probe into Comey’s possible leak of classified information, Fox News reports. The subpoena targets adviser Daniel Richman, who was a primary figure in the initial investigation into the leak of information to The New York Times.
In 2017, Comey said before a congressional committee that he shared details of meetings with Trump with a friend. “I asked a friend of mine to share the content of the memo with the reporter,” he told Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME). “I didn’t do it myself for a variety of reasons, but I asked him to because I thought that might prompt the appointment of a special counsel. So I asked a close friend of mine to do it.” Comey described the man as a “good friend of mine who is a professor at Columbia Law School.”
The subpoena coincides with ongoing investigations into Comey’s alleged threats against President Trump. In the “86 47” case, the Department of Justice has argued that any viewer of the post could interpret it as a threat against President Trump. The “86” is believed to mean removing or getting rid of something, and the “47” has been interpreted to refer to Trump’s time as the 47th president.
“Threatening the life of the President of the United States is a grave violation of our nation’s laws,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said at the time of Comey’s indictment.
“The grand jury returned an indictment alleging James Comey did just that, at a time when this country has witnessed violent incitement followed by deadly actions against President Trump and other elected officials,” he stated. “The temperature needs to be turned down, and anyone who dials it up and threatens the life of the President will be held accountable.”
