Video: DiGenova on Memos: 'Comey Should Go to Prison'

By Michael W. Chapman
CNSnews.com

Former U.S. Attorney for D.C. and chief counsel to the Senate Rules Committee Joe diGenova stated on WMAL radio on Friday that the memos written by then-FBI Director James Comey about his conversations with President Donald Trump early in 2017 reveal a "tortured and troubled mind," a man who "committed a crime" and who "should go to prison."

DiGenova, a long-time attorney dealing with white-collar crime and congressional investigations, also said that the memos reminded him of those written by Nazi war criminals, who detailed their illegal actions in documents and then saw those same documents used against them during the Nuremberg trials.

DiGenova added that the Comey memos further confirm that top people in the Justice Department (DOJ), the FBI, and the Obama administration were involved in "a brazen plot to exonerate Hillary Clinton, and then if she lost the election, to frame Donald Trump."

During the April 20 interview on WMAL's "Mornings on the Mall," co-host Mary Walter talked about the DOJ Inspector General's criminal referral of former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who made false statements, "lacked candor," on four occasions when being interviewed by FBI officials. Was this surprising to you? she asked diGenova. 

“It’s not a surprise and here’s the reason why," said diGenova. "What you are watching is the Department of Justice clumsily get back to a rule of law with one standard, instead of the two standards that were applied during the Obama administration."

"The referral of Mr. McCabe for possible prosecution … is an example of the department trying to figure out a way to restore its credibility and the confidence of the American people in a very broken department that was ruined by Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder, and a bunch of other people at the top and, of course, James Comey," said diGenova.

"So, this is all about if you’re going to charge [former Trump adviser] Michael Flynn, you have to charge Mr. McCabe," he said.  "It’s real simple stuff. And if McCabe isn’t charged, I don’t care if it’s a Republican U.S. attorney or not, these guys are going to pay a price. It’s too bad. This isn’t retributive justice or vengeance. This is the rule of law. This is what it looks like."

He continued, “And for the Democrats who keep saying ‘no there there,’ like that idiot Nancy Pelosi yesterday, who says the memos confirm everything she’s ever said – God help us, what an idiot!"

Given what the memos reveal about why Comey spoke with Trump, diGenova said, "It shows that there was, in fact, a plot, a brazen plot to exonerate Hillary Clinton, and then if she lost the election, to frame Donald Trump. Because what they were doing with the [salacious Russia] dossier was dirtying-up the president so that when the [Christopher] Steele dossier became part of the FISA warrant process, they could use it in the application of public pressure to get a special prosecutor."

"Comey knew that," said diGenova. "That’s why he leaked the memos. Every single thing that Comey and Clapper and Brennan, and the people at the highest levels of the FBI did, and at DOJ did, was to set in motion a set of false facts to warrant an investigation and they got it." (James Clapper was the director of National Intelligence and John Brennan was the CIA director in the Obama administration.)

“Comey should go to prison," said diGenova.  "All this talk about, ‘you can’t lock up an FBI director,’ well, I got news for you, L. Patrick Gray should have went to jail, and these people should go to jail." (L. Patrick Gray was the acting FBI director during Watergate and he destroyed documents.)

Asked to comment further on the Comey memos, diGenova said, “It’s a veritable cornucopia of revelations of a very, very tortured and troubled mind. I urge people to print out the 16 pages – they’re available everywhere on the Internet – and read them."

"What you see is a man – I was saying to Victoria [Toensing], my wife, this morning, as I read them, I thought of the Nazis who kept detailed records of the exterminations and then they were used in the war crimes against them," said diGenova. "This is the same thing. These are the Nazi war crime memos done by an American government official."

"They are a detailed description of how to violate the law, subvert the Constitution, and frame an incoming president of the United States," he said. "They are filled with arrogance, and I must say, the writings of what I consider to be a very disturbed mind."

DiGenova was also critical of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who wrote the memo to Trump advising that Comey be fired and who then appointed Robert Mueller to investigate Trump.

“Rod Rosenstein, when all is said and done, will go down in history as an absolute coward for having appointed Robert Mueller," said diGenova. 

"Go back and look at this now, and you see that nothing, nothing has been discovered about collusion," said diGenova.  "[For Rosenstein] to sit there and not tell the president of the United States a long, long, long time ago that he had no [legal] exposure is absolutely despicable by Rosenstein."

"And when this is over – when this is over!" he said, "[Attorney General] Jeff Sessions should fire Mr. Rosenstein ipso facto, as fast as possible."

WMAL co-host Vince Coglianese then asked about these FBI and DOJ officials who are now criticizing each other in public and claiming that other people are not telling the truth, and whether it is all spinning out of control.

“It is, the brazen plot is unraveling," said diGenova.  "It’s also like rats swimming to a sinking ship. These are people who are fundamentally dishonest people. When you watch James Comey on television, you are watching the unraveling of a bad mind. You’re watching a man who engaged in conspiracies, who corruptly tried to frame people, who lied to his superiors, who conspired to leak information."

He continued, "And, when you look at the 16 pages that were released of these memos, you will see that huge portions are blacked out. Now why is that? It’s because the information was determined to be highly classified. That means when James Comey gave those memos, took them out of his house and gave them to the professor at Columbia, Mr. Daniel Richman, he committed a crime."

"You are watching the destruction, the self-destruction, hari-kari of James Comey by his own hand," said diGenova. "It is wonderful to watch. No one deserves it better. This guy is a total scumbag.”