Justice Dept watchdog to release report
on FBI decisions on Clinton probe
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[June 14, 2018]
By Sarah N. Lynch and Mark Hosenball
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice
Department's internal watchdog will release a long-awaited report on
Thursday on the FBI's handling of the Hillary Clinton email probe that
she said contributed to her 2016 presidential election loss to
Republican Donald Trump.
The report by Inspector General Michael Horowitz, which will be released
at 2 p.m., arose from a review he launched about a week before Trump
took office in January 2017.
The inquiry has focused on whether former FBI Director James Comey's
public statements about the bureau's probe of Clinton's use of a private
email server while secretary of state were based on "improper
considerations."
In July 2016, Comey held an unusual news conference to explain why the
FBI would not be recommending criminal charges against Clinton over her
use of the private server. He chastised her for being "extremely
careless" but said there was insufficient evidence to charge her with a
federal crime.

In October 2016, less than two weeks before Election Day, Comey sent
members of Congress a letter disclosing that the probe was being
reopened after new emails were found on the computer of former U.S.
Representative Anthony Weiner, the husband of top Clinton aide Huma
Abedin.
Two days before the Nov. 8 election, Comey said the FBI had found no new
evidence.
Comey was fired by Trump in May 2018 while leading an investigation into
whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia, an allegation the
president has denied.
The Inspector General also examined whether FBI employees leaked
information about investigations of the Clinton Foundation charitable
organization and emails in a bid to help Trump's campaign.
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Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks at the annual
Hillary Rodham Clinton awards ceremony at Georgetown University in
Washington, U.S., February 5, 2018. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein

Law enforcement officials previously told Reuters the information
was leaked to former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, an adviser to the
Trump campaign. He now represents Trump in Special Counsel Robert
Mueller's probe into whether Russia interfered in the 2016 election.
The report will also discuss Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, two FBI
staffers whom Republicans accused of bias against Trump after
thousands of text messages sent via their work-issued mobile phones
were made public.
While some of their messages were anti-Trump, others took aim at
lawmakers such as U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, whom Clinton defeated
for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Page and Strzok were involved in both the Clinton and Russia probes.
Mueller removed Strzok from his team after Horowitz disclosed the
texts to him.
Members of several key U.S. House and Senate committees are expected
to be briefed on the report in the early afternoon before its public
release, according to documents seen by Reuters.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Mark Hosenball; Editing by John
Walcott and Peter Cooney)
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