A friend of former FBI Director James Comey said Tuesday he has turned over Comey's memos, which highlight his interactions with President Donald Trump, to the FBI.
Columbia University law professor Daniel Richman said he is handing the materials over to the bureau, which continues to investigate Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election, Politico reported.
That probe, overseen by special counsel Robert Mueller, includes an investigation into whether any associates of the president colluded with Russians last year—and whether Trump might have obstructed justice when he fired Comey amid the FBI investigation. Comey's memos may be crucial evidence in that aspect of the probe.
Richman's decision comes as several congressional committees have asked for copies of Comey's memos. Comey himself said he turned over his copies to Mueller, but he said he'd be comfortable if Mueller or Richman shared them with Congress.
The House and Senate intelligence committees, the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the House Oversight Committee have all requested Comey's memos.
The Washington Post reported that Richman declined to comment on further questions, including whether he still possesses a copy of the memos.
Comey testified to the Senate Intelligence Committee last Thursday that he entrusted a friend, who he identified only as a Columbia law professor, to share the contents of a memo detailing his meeting with Trump in February to a reporter. The fired FBI chief said his goal was to prompt the appointment of a special counsel to head the Russia investigation.
Richman soon confirmed that he was the law professor who turned over the Comey memo to the New York Times last month. Comey wrote in the memo that Trump told him in the Oval Office that he hoped Comey could drop the probe into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.