Aug 1, 2019

DOJ declines to prosecute Comey for leaked memos, despite referral

Comey finishes testifying to the House Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform committees in December 2018. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Former FBI Director James Comey will not be charged by the DOJ for leaking memos he wrote about his White House contacts, including President Trump, the Washington Post reports.

The big picture: Comey's memos — parts of which included redacted classified information —were of interest to former special counsel Robert Muller's investigation into potential obstruction of justice by the president. DOJ prosecutors declined to prosecute Comey after a referral from inspector general Michael Horowitz "in part because they didn't believe there was evidence to show Comey knew and intended to violate laws on handling classified information," CNN reports. Sources told both the Post and Fox News that the decision not to prosecute was "not a close call."

Go deeper: What the Comey memos tell us about Trump

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Survey: Fears grow about Social Security’s future

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Why it matters: Young people's concerns about financial insecurity once they're on a restricted income are rising — and that generation is worried the program, which currently pays out to 65 million beneficiaries, won't be enough to sustain them.

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