Comey testified that he handed over his memos on the interactions he had with Trump to a "close friend" with the intention that they be shared widely.
"My judgment was I need to get [the memos] out into the public square," Comey said. "So I asked a friend of mine to share the content of the memos with a reporter. I didn't do it myself for a variety of reasons, but I asked him to because I thought that might prompt the appointment of a special counsel."
Comey did not appear to commit a crime by leaking his memos about his conversations with Trump, according to some
legal experts. It would only be a crime if the information was classified, the experts told ABC News but, that said, his actions were improper and violated well-established norms.
Kasowitz [Trump personal lawyer] said, "Although Mr. Comey testified he only leaked the memos in response to a tweet, the public record reveals that the New York Times was quoting from these memos the day before the referenced tweet, which belies Mr. Comey’s excuse for this unauthorized disclosure of privileged information and appears to entirely retaliatory.”