During his highly anticipated testimony on Thursday before the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, James Comey, the former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, revealed that he had shared a memo of a conversation with President Trump with a friend with the intention that the friend share it with the news media.
That friend was Daniel Richman, a law professor at Columbia University, who subsequently confirmed to news outlets that he was the source of the memo. Mr. Richman had previously told The New York Times that Mr. Comey would “be welcomed back” to the university for his next job, and that “he knows it.”
Contacted by The Chronicle on Thursday morning, Mr. Richman elaborated: “He knows he’s welcome to join us next year. He’s come to my class several times and is a gifted teacher. He’s also deeply thoughtful about criminal-justice and national-security issues and on ethical leadership.”
Columbia Law School’s Twitter account tweeted during the testimony that its web page was down, presumably as people swarmed Mr. Richman’s bio page:
Columbia Law’s site is down at the moment. We are working on a solution. Stay tuned.
— Columbia Law School (@ColumbiaLaw) June 8, 2017
Since Mr. Comey’s prepared statement to the committee was published, on Wednesday, several observers — including those in academe — have complimented his writing style. The compliments continued on Thursday, when Sen. James Risch, Republican of Idaho, mentioned his own training in legal writing at law school, and speculated that Mr. Comey must have earned an A in that class.
Sen. Risch tells Comey, “you probably got an A in legal writing in law school”
— Alana Abramson (@aabramson) June 8, 2017
Senator Risch praises the writing quality of Comey’s memo. Law students take note! @abalsd
— ABA LNS (@ABANatSec) June 8, 2017
Mr. Comey was fired in May, and he has since asserted that President Trump demanded a pledge of loyalty from him, and pressured him to drop an investigation into Michael Flynn, the president’s former national-security adviser.
Steve Kolowich writes about writes about ordinary people in extraordinary times, and extraordinary people in ordinary times. Follow him on Twitter @stevekolowich, or write to him at steve.kolowich@chronicle.com. Andy Thomason oversees breaking-news coverage. Send him a tip at andy.thomason@chronicle.com. And follow him on Twitter @arthomason.
