Daniel Richman, a law professor at Columbia and a close associate of former FBI director James Comey, played a significant role in influencing media narratives around the Russiagate scandal. He expressed uncertainty about the legitimacy of certain intelligence leaks to journalists.
Richman, who forged a friendship with Comey while they both worked in the Southern New York district, was noted for his regular communications with reporters, including New York Times journalist Michael Schmidt. In 2019, he told the FBI that his intent was to correct a critical narrative about the FBI and guide future reporting.
Richman admitted to having a disagreement with Schmidt in early 2017, implying that Schmidt had access to confidential information which Richman believed he might not have verified. Despite this, Richman told his interview agents that he was confident in the classification of the information he discussed.
The FBI memo addressing these discussions didn’t detail the classified information but indicated that Comey had previously mentioned to Richman the confidences surrounding former Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s handling of classified materials.
This situation was compounded by Lynch’s controversial meeting with Bill Clinton in 2016, just prior to Comey’s announcement regarding the non-recommendation of charges against Hillary Clinton.
Richman recognized that such information could imply bias on Lynch’s part concerning the investigation outcomes, as emphasized in the FBI documentation. He understood the sensitivity and classification of the information discussed.
The memo originated from the FBI’s “Arctic Haze” investigation, initiated in response to leaks involving compromised classified information regarding eight articles published between April and June 2017. This investigation particularly targeted four of those stories.
One article by Schmidt referenced in the memo raised questions about Lynch’s independence. The report suggested that Democratic operatives were confident Lynch would not pursue an extensive investigation into Clinton.
The FBI did not clarify whether the classified information mentioned between Richman and Schmidt specifically pertained to Lynch, but the relationship between them was well established, with Richman serving as a source for Schmidt for many years.
Richman, who has been quoted in various articles throughout the Russiagate saga, was reportedly more involved in providing information anonymously to reporters than initially disclosed.
Despite the contentious nature of the investigation, Schmidt, connected through marriage to MSNBC’s Nicole Wallace, revealed that Trump had allegedly directed him to end the probe into Michael Flynn regarding his lobbying activities related to Turkey, eventually leading to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller.
Richman is noted for leaking Comey’s memos on the matter, which Comey later admitted was intended to spur the appointment of a special counsel.
In a previous report, former DOJ inspector general Michael Horowitz criticized the leak involving Comey’s memos during the investigation into potential ties between Trump’s campaign and Russia.
Richman had been working as a special government employee for the FBI since 2015, assigned with top-secret clearance. The FBI memo stated that Richman claimed he had voiced his concerns over Comey’s choices to the media, all while asserting that Comey had never solicited him for such discussions.
The investigation into these leaks concluded in September 2021, resulting in no prosecutions for the unauthorized information sharing with the press.
Recently, a collection of files from Patel revealed intriguing codenames associated with the investigation, including whimsical titles like “riding hoods” and “genetic Christmas.”
