Stephanie SandovalThe Justice Department will not prosecute former FBI Director James Comey over his handling of classified information, according to multiple reports.
The DOJ's inspector general referred Comey for potential prosecution after he leaked memos to The New York Times after being fired. The memos described conversations between Comey and President Donald Trump about the FBI's investigation into the president and Russian interference in the 2016 election. The FBI later determined the memos contained classified information.
According to The Hill, which first reported the news, prosecutors did not file charges because they didn't have enough evidence that Comey purposefully broke the law.
President Trump fired Comey in May 2017, and the Trump administration maintains that he was fired over the way he handled the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails. But many Democrats believe President Trump fired him because Comey was in charge of the Russia investigation.
Comey's firing led then-Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein to appoint Robert Mueller to take over the Russia investigation.
