With its investigation into Hillary Clinton winding down—and reportedly coming up empty-handed—the Department of Justice is reportedly shifting its focus to another of President Donald Trump's political foes. The New York Times reports that federal prosecutors have opened an investigation into former FBI director James Comey and whether he leaked classified information to reporters. The investigation reportedly began in “recent months,” though it's unclear whether any witnesses have yet been called or a grand jury has been convened.

At the heart of the Comey investigation is a classified document retrieved from Russian computers, which appeared to analyze a supposed email exchange during the 2016 presidential campaign between Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Leonard Benardo, who works for the George Soros-led Open Society Foundations. The exchange appeared to show Wasserman Schultz assuring Benardo that then-U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch would “make sure” that Clinton wasn't prosecuted in the ongoing investigation into her use of a private email server. The veracity of the document, which was reported on in 2017 by the Times and Washington Post, has been widely disputed, and Wasserman Schultz and Benardo have denied ever being in contact, suggesting the document is likely Russian misinformation. Comey, however, still used the document as justification to cut out the DOJ and announce by himself that the investigation into Clinton's emails had ended with no charges. The FBI director was reportedly concerned that should Lynch play a role in clearing Clinton of the allegations against her, Russia could leak the alleged exchange and discredit the probe.

This isn't the first time the DOJ has looked into Comey, as federal prosecutors have previously investigated whether the former FBI head directed personal lawyer and friend Daniel C. Richman to turn over the contents of a memo detailing Comey's interactions with Trump to the Times. (Investigators are now reportedly also looking at whether Richman leaked the Russian document to the press.) While that memo wasn't found to have any classified information, federal prosecutors did determine that other memos Comey wrote did contain classified information, but ultimately declined to bring charges. As they now embark on another Comey probe, however, the Times notes that the case may be a difficult one to investigate. “Leak cases are incredibly difficult to prosecute,” former Justice Deparment lawyer Brian J. Fleming told the Times. “They are very challenging to present to a jury both as an evidentiary matter and in terms of presenting a compelling, coherent narrative. That is a big reason so few leak cases get charged and even fewer ever go to trial.” The DOJ, however, could still try to aggressively pursue the case—and make an example out of Comey.

While investigating government officials for leaking classified information isn't uncommon, the timing of the DOJ's investigation suggests that the William Barr-led agency likely has some political motivations behind its probe. As the Times points out, leak cases typically aren't investigated years after the fact—but as the continued “lock her up” chants at his rallies suggest, Trump's desire to see his enemies thrown in prison knows no time limit. The president, who previously tried to get the DOJ to investigate Comey in 2018, has reiterated his desire to see Comey behind bars as recently as December—raising the specter that this investigation is being undertaken to please an audience of one. “What are the consequences for [Comey's] unlawful conduct,” Trump tweeted in December, after the DOJ inspector general released a report about the FBI's 2016 actions. “Could it be years in jail? Where are the apologies to me and others, Jim?”

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