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Grand jury subpoenas James Comey adviser Daniel Richman in leak probe

A federal grand jury has subpoenaed Daniel Richman, a friend of former FBI Director James Comey, in a renewed investigation into alleged improper sharing of sensitive information.

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Published
Daniel Richman testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2007.

What this story says

  • A federal grand jury has subpoenaed Daniel Richman, a friend and adviser to former FBI Director James Comey.
  • The subpoena is part of a renewed probe into allegations that Comey improperly shared sensitive information with the media.
  • The suspected leak involved memos Comey wrote about his meetings with President Donald Trump.
  • Prosecutors had previously investigated this matter during Donald Trump's first term and declined to bring charges.

Who covered it

Left 15%(2)Centre 31%(4)Right 54%(7)

Percentages are shares of the 13 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 1 of the 14 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .

Trust

42/100

Craft

65/100

Hype

41/100

14 sources · methodology

Thin on the left so far

Only 2 of the 13 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.

This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.

A federal grand jury has subpoenaed Daniel Richman, a friend and adviser to former FBI Director James Comey. The subpoena is part of a renewed investigation into allegations that Comey improperly shared sensitive information with the media. The suspected leak involves memos Comey wrote about his meetings with President Donald Trump. Prosecutors had previously examined this matter during Donald Trump's first term but declined to bring charges.

Disagreement on classification

Daniel Richman stated that the substance of the memo he shared was not marked classified and to his knowledge remains unclassified. CNN reported this statement from Richman. The Gateway Pundit described the memos as 'classified Trump memos' and stated Richman then leaked their contents to The New York Times.

What the coverage left out

None of the right-rated reports mention that Daniel Richman stated the substance of the memo he shared was not marked classified and to his knowledge remains unclassified. None of the centre-rated reports mention that James Comey is also facing charges that he threatened Trump with a social media post or that he was previously facing charges for allegedly making false statements to Congress, which were thrown out by a judge.

Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 3 times, most recently on 31 Aug 2026, 19:00, and will add the sides that appear.

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

2 rated outlets

  • The two left-rated reports led with the subpoena of Daniel Richman, a friend and adviser to former FBI Director James Comey, in a renewed probe into alleged leaks of classified information to the media. Raw Story framed the action as a "new swipe at former FBI Director James Comey" by "President Donald Trump’s Justice Department" in a "major revenge case."

Centre

4 rated outlets

  • The four centre-rated reports all led with the headline "Longtime friend to Trump foe James Comey subpoenaed in new leak investigation." They stated that a federal grand jury subpoenaed Daniel Richman, a friend and adviser to James Comey, in a renewed probe into whether the former FBI Director improperly shared sensitive information with the media. These reports noted that the suspected leak involved memos Comey wrote about his meetings with President Donald Trump and that prosecutors had previously examined the matter during Donald Trump's first term but declined to bring charges. They also reported that Richman stated the substance of the memo he shared was not marked classified and to his knowledge remains unclassified.

Right

7 rated outlets

  • The seven right-rated reports focused on the subpoena of Daniel Richman, described as James Comey's "mole" or "pal," in a renewed investigation into alleged leaks of classified information. The Gateway Pundit stated that after James Comey was fired by President Trump, he gave contents of his classified 'Trump memos' to Richman, who then leaked them to The New York Times. Conservative Brief used the headline "Major Courtroom Development in James Comey's Case." Several right-rated reports, including Fox News, Just the News, and wfmd.com, cited "sources" and stated that a federal grand jury issued a subpoena to Comey's adviser as part of a new Justice Department investigation into allegedly leaking classified information. Just the News noted that President Donald Trump had investigated the allegations during his first term, which was cut off when Joe Biden took office.

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover Grand jury subpoenas James Comey adviser Daniel Richman in leak probe?
Of the 13 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 15% are rated left, 31% are rated centre, 54% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 14. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is Grand jury subpoenas James Comey adviser Daniel Richman in leak probe left or right?
Neither side dominates it. Of the 13 rated outlets on this story, 15% are rated left, 31% are rated centre, 54% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
Is the coverage of Grand jury subpoenas James Comey adviser Daniel Richman in leak probe biased?
Grand jury subpoenas James Comey adviser Daniel Richman in leak probe is one event reported by 14 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which side is not reporting Grand jury subpoenas James Comey adviser Daniel Richman in leak probe?
When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
Which outlets covered Grand jury subpoenas James Comey adviser Daniel Richman in leak probe?
14 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
Who has been subpoenaed in the renewed leak probe?
Daniel Richman, a longtime friend and adviser to former FBI Director James Comey, has been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury. This action is part of a renewed investigation into allegations that Comey improperly shared sensitive information with the media.
What is the renewed investigation about?
The investigation centres on memos that James Comey wrote about his meetings with President Donald Trump. Prosecutors are examining whether Comey improperly shared sensitive information from these memos with the media. This matter was previously investigated during Trump's first term, but no charges were filed.
What has Daniel Richman said about the memo he shared?
Daniel Richman has stated that the substance of the memo he shared was not marked classified and, to his knowledge, remains unclassified. This statement was reported by CNN and the centre-rated outlets.

Read it at the source

14 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

2

Centre

4

Right

7

Not rated

1

How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

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