The following article by Matt Zapotosky and Sari Horwitz was posted on the Washington Post website January 12, 2017:
The probe will be wide ranging — encompassing the FBI’s various public statements on the matter, whether its deputy director should have been recused and whether FBI or other Justice Department employees leaked nonpublic information, according to a news release from Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz.
Lawmakers and others had called previously for the inspector general to probe the FBI’s pre-election actions when it came to the Clinton probe, alleging that FBI Director James B. Comey bucked long-standing policies with his communications about the case and that information seemed to have leaked inappropriately — perhaps to former New York City mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani.
Horowitz said in a news release that he will explore those topics and more, though he will not re-litigate whether anyone should have faced charges.
“The review will not substitute the OIG’s judgment for the judgments made by the FBI or the Department regarding the substantive merits of investigative or prosecutive decisions,” the news release said, using an acronym for the Office of the Inspector General.
The FBI’s probe into whether Clinton mishandled classified information by using a private email server when she was secretary of state has long been controversial and politically charged.
Perhaps most notably, Comey on Oct. 28 — after previously announcing publicly that he was recommending no charges in the case — sent a letter to congressional leaders telling them that agents had resumed the Clinton probe after finding potentially relevant information in an unrelated case.
The day before, senior Justice Department leaders had warned Comey not to send the letter, because it violated two long-standing department policies — discussing an ongoing investigation and taking any overt action on an investigation so close to an election. At the time, it was less than two weeks before the election, and early voting had already begun.
Comey sent a second letter to Congress, just days before the election, saying that the investigation was complete and he was not changing the decision he had made in July to bring no charges against Clinton. But the damage — in the minds of Clinton supporters, at least — had been done. Clinton has blamed the renewed FBI inquiry for blunting her momentum in the last weeks of the presidential election.
Horowitz wrote that he will explore “allegations that Department or FBI policies or procedures were not followed” in connection with both letters, but his probe will extend beyond that. He wrote that he also will explore “allegations that Department and FBI employees improperly disclosed non-public information” — which is perhaps a reference to Giuliani, who seemed to claim at one point he had insider FBI knowledge. And Horowitz wrote that his inquiry will extend back to Comey’s July announcement that he was recommending the Clinton base be closed without charges.
In that instance, Comey took the unusual action of criticizing Clinton and her aides as “extremely careless” in their treatment of classified material, even as he said no reasonable prosecutor would charge them. His comments drew criticism from some in the legal world who said it was unfair for him to opine on a person he was not giving the opportunity to defend herself in court.