by WorldTribune Staff, August 13, 2025 Real World News
Columbia University law professor Daniel Richman admitted to federal agents that he communicated with The New York Times on behalf of his longtime friend James Comey in an effort to polish the then-FBI director’s image and advocate for a special prosecutor on alleged Trump-Russia collusion, a report said.
Richman admitted to agents in interviews that he routinely contacted Times reporter Michael Schmidt on Comey’s behalf. Schmidt’s “reporting” was among the newspaper’s 2018 Pulitzer-winning stories on the Russiagate hoax.
The goal, Richman told the FBI, was “to correct stories critical of Comey, the FBI and to shape future press coverage” outside of the bureau’s official press office, Just the News reported on Tuesday, citing internal FBI memos that current Director Kash Patel delivered to Congress this week.
While Richman was known to have been publicly quoted in news stories as an advocate for Comey, he admitted to agents — who were part of the FBI’s Arctic Haze classified leaks inquiry — that he was given access by Comey to what turned out to be highly classified information up to the SCI level and sometimes provided information to reporters on an anonymous basis.
Richman insisted he did not believe he had confirmed or provided classified intelligence to reporters but said he could not be 100 percent, the memos state, noting he could only make his leak denial “with a discount.”
“Richman was pretty sure he did not confirm the Classified Information. However, Richman told the interviewing agents he was sure ‘with a discount’ that he did not tell Schmidt about the Classified Information,” one FBI memo recounted.
In the end, the Justice Department decided not to pursue any criminal charges against Comey or any of his lieutenants or now-Sen. Adam Schiff despite potential evidence of leaks, saying it could not be certain of who leaked what and when.
The DOJ’s interrogation of Richman and his admissions of significant contact with the Times’ Schmidt provide the most detailed account to date of how Trump critics like Comey — who was fired by the president — used the media to craft narratives that ultimately turned out to be untrue or misleadingly overstated, the memos show.
Columbia U professor admits he was Comey’s channel to NY Times; May have leaked classified info added by Editor Two on
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