WASHINGTON >> Former FBI Director James Comey has kicked up a hornet’s nest with the disclosure that he orchestrated the release of damaging details from his conversations with President Donald Trump.

Comey told a Senate committee on Thursday that he decided weeks ago to get details of a memo he wrote out before the public. In the memo, he wrote that Trump had said he hoped that Comey could let go the investigation of former adviser Michael Flynn.

Comey testified that he had a friend share with a reporter the content of the memo, hoping it would lead to the appointment of a special counsel. And it did.

Trump’s personal lawyer says Comey made “unauthorized disclosures” of privileged communications. And experts disagree over whether Comey’s action was unethical or even illegal.