Report rebukes Comey, but says no bias in
Clinton email case
Send a link to a friend
[June 15, 2018]
By Sarah N. Lynch and Mark Hosenball
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former FBI Director
James Comey made a "serious error of judgment" when he announced shortly
before the 2016 U.S. presidential election that he was reopening an
investigation into candidate Hillary Clinton's use of a private e-mail
server, the Justice Department's internal watchdog said on Thursday.
But Inspector General Michael Horowitz also concluded in a long-awaited,
500-page report that Comey did not exhibit political bias or try to
influence the election; nor did he contest the decision not to charge
Clinton with a crime.
A long-serving law enforcement official, Comey became a controversial
figure in the 2016 election, drawing accusations from both Republicans
and Democrats that his handling of the probe into Clinton's emails
influenced the campaign.
Comey later headed a separate investigation into alleged ties between
President Donald Trump's campaign and Russia. Trump fired him as head of
the FBI in May 2017, prompting the appointment of a special counsel now
pursuing the Russia probe.
Both sides of the partisan divide found something to trumpet in the
report. Democrats said it confirmed political bias did not influence the
Clinton investigation, while Republicans seized on a newly disclosed
text by an FBI agent in mid-2016 expressing his apparent intention to
"stop" the Trump campaign.

And while embarrassing for the FBI, the report appeared to lack the kind
of bombshell revelation that would significantly boost an effort by
Trump and his allies to paint the FBI as corrupt and discredit the
Russia investigation.
FBI Director Christopher Wray told reporters at a briefing that he
accepted the inspector general’s report, but stressed it did not find
that political bias had impacted its investigations.
"The report does identify errors of judgment, violations of, or even
disregard for policy and decisions that at the very least, with the
benefit of hindsight, were not the best choices," Wray said. "We need to
hold ourselves accountable."
The inspector general's inquiry focused on public statements made by
Comey about Democrat Clinton's use of a private email server, instead of
a State Department server, while she was secretary of state.
In October 2016, less than two weeks before Election Day, Comey sent
members of Congress a letter disclosing that a probe into Clinton's
emails was being reopened after new emails were discovered, a disclosure
Clinton contends contributed to her surprise defeat by Trump. Two days
before the Nov. 8 election, Comey said the FBI found no additional
evidence in the new emails.
John Podesta, who ran the Clinton campaign, told Reuters "the report
demonstrates beyond doubt" that Comey was unfair to Clinton by
announcing developments concerning the email probe in the heat of the
campaign while not revealing the existence of the Russia probe, launched
in late July 2016.

Comey defended his actions in an op-ed published in the New York Times
after the report was released.
"In 2016, my team faced an extraordinary situation — something I thought
of as a 500-year flood — offering no good choices and presenting some of
the hardest decisions I ever had to make," Comey wrote.
VIOLATING POLICIES
The report sharply criticized Comey for violating Justice Department
policies and accused him of usurping the authority of then Attorney
General Loretta Lynch when he held a news conference in July 2016 and
announced there was insufficient evidence to charge Clinton with a
federal crime over her use of a private server.
[to top of second column]
|

FBI Director Christopher Wray reacts while discussing the findings
of the Inspector General's report on the FBI's handling of a probe
into former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, during a news
conference in Washington, U.S., June 14, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

Comey said Lynch forced his hand when she did not recuse herself
from the Clinton probe, even after a June 2016 meeting with former
President Bill Clinton aboard her plane raised concerns she was
conflicted.
Thursday’s report found that while Lynch did not discuss the email
investigation with Bill Clinton, she failed "to recognize the
appearance problem" created by the meeting and did not try to cut
the meeting short.
Lynch in a statement called the report "thorough and in depth" and
said it "upholds my fidelity to the rule of law" and "affirms that
my actions had no political motivation or bias."
Trump and his allies have accused a clique of FBI and Justice
Department officials of working against Trump.
The Horowitz report was highly critical of Peter Strzok and Lisa
Page, two FBI staff members who exchanged highly charged political
messages, finding their texts cast a cloud over the FBI and created
the appearance of bias.
In one newly released email from August 2016, Page wrote to Strzok
asking “(Trump’s) not ever going to become president, right? Right!”
Strzok replied: “No. No he’s not. We’ll stop it.”
The report criticized the FBI for a one-month delay between the time
new Clinton emails were found on Sept. 26, 2016 and when the FBI
finally got a search warrant to review them to search for new
evidence in late October as the election loomed.
Strzok was among a number of FBI employees who failed to act
promptly, the report said.
"The FBI’s inaction had potentially far-reaching consequences,” the
report says, noting there were no persuasive arguments to explain
the delay.

The report added that the inspector general’s office was very
concerned about a decision to prioritize the Russia investigation
over following up on the Clinton probe in light of the new emails.
Strzok's lawyer Aitan Goelman said the report, while flawed in some
conclusions, found no evidence that his political views had an
impact on the Clinton probe.
Page left the FBI in early May 2018.
Wray said Thursday that some of the conduct highlighted in the
report has been referred to the FBI's disciplinary arm for possible
action, but declined to say how many employees could face
repercussions.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Mark Hosenball; Writing by Warren
Strobel and Nathan Layne; Editing by John Walcott, Alistair Bell and
Chris Reese)
[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
 |