Thread by @ClimateAudit

OIG stated that Comey memos were government property, rejecting false and implausible Comey claim that the memos were his personal property.

Question: did Comey's wrongful assertion of title amount to conversion of government property, a crime under 18 USC 641? If not, why not?

2/ 18 USC 641 law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18… states that "Whoever ... knowingly converts to his use ... any record, ... of the United States or of any department or agency thereof" has committed a crime.

Let's look at the legal definition of "conversion".

3/ "Conversion" is defined in law as "taking with the intent of exercising over the chattel an ownership inconsistent with the real owner's right of possession". (Rolfe B), Fouldes v. Willoughby (1841) 81 M & W 540, 550 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversio…

4/ here is an interesting old-fashioned article on conversion as a tort scholarship.law.cornell.edu/cgi/viewconten…

5/ Comey's assertion of title to the memos as his personal property was not only implausible and illegal, in law, Comey's assertion of personal ownership constituted a conversion of government records.

6/ I.e. Comey "knowingly convert[ed] to his [own] use" records belonging to the FBI. All the elements of 18 USC 641 are met.

7/ the OIG report purported to summarize "Relevant Statutes and Policies" pertaining to "Federal Records and Official Information", but failed to include 18 USC 641, even though Comey's actions met all the elements.