The IG report has been released early and it’s well over 500 pages long. I can’t post it here because of the length but here’s a link to it.
Here’s Catherine Herridge to explain more about the release:
BREAKING NEWS: Justice Dept. inspector general releases report on FBI's handling of Hillary Clinton email case; Comey found 'insubordinate'.; Catherine Herridge has the latest - Part 1. https://t.co/F7PblKOFWv pic.twitter.com/5uVu0tZTwQ
— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 14, 2018
BREAKING NEWS: Justice Dept. inspector general releases report on FBI's handling of Hillary Clinton email case; Comey found 'insubordinate'.; Catherine Herridge has the latest - Part 2. https://t.co/F7PblKOFWv pic.twitter.com/pLRPjBeMET
— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 14, 2018
Now I was working on the post below when the report was dropped early. You can read it anyway as there’s good stuff in it:
In preparation for the IG report that is supposed to come out at 3pm, here’s what we know so far.
Congress members Biggs, Gaetz, and DeSantis are suggesting that members of the FBI and DOJ may have changed the report to ‘obfuscate’ the findings of the IG. They are demanding to see the original draft:
IG FALLOUT: Clearest sign that Trump allies didn't get what they wanted out of the IG report: his top GOP allies are arguing that the report may have been watered down during the review process --> pic.twitter.com/gFL9k7kjf2
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) June 14, 2018
If you want to read it, here it is in larger form:
Peter Strzok has become a target of several congress members, including Gowdy, Jordan and Meadows:
GOP going after Strzok hard after release of IG report, saying his role taints Russia probe and he should be fired. Gowdy, Jordan and Meadows all raise Strzok concerns. Meadows: “It’s extremely concerning there’s still some people, mainly Peter Strzok, employed at the FBI.”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) June 14, 2018
What confuses me about their concerns is that I thought Strzok had been removed from the Russia probe by Mueller. How is he still tainting it?
That said, I completely understand their general concerns about Strzok still working at the FBI.
And I’d like to point out here that I believe I just heard Catherine Herridge say on Fox News that the IG does in fact ascribe political bias to how Strzok handled the Weiner emails in October of 2016. She said that he was found to be dragging his feet, I think.
Obviously we know about the Strzok text now that was supposedly uncovered in May of this year, which is hard to believe. DeSantis and Meadows wants to know why Rosenstein didn’t turn this over to Congress:
The following is in the IG report. Why didn’t Rosenstein disclose this to Congress when we asked for the texts?
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) June 14, 2018
August 8 2016 Strzok-Page texts
Page: [Trump’s] not ever going to become President, right? Right?!
Strzok: No. No he’s not. We’ll stop it.
Lisa Page text to Peter Strzok: “(Trump’s) not ever going to become president, right? Right?!”
— Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) June 14, 2018
Strzok reply: “No. No he’s not. We’ll stop it.”
This Peter Strzok text about "stopping" Donald Trump was hidden from Congressional investigators. We never had it. Absolutely unreal.
Also, Gowdy is NOT HAPPY with the report at all:
Trouble in paradise?
— ||:|__VM__||:| (@myhtopoeic) June 14, 2018
Trey Gowdy - “I am alarmed, angered, and deeply disappointed by the Inspector General’s finding of numerous failures by DOJ and FBI in investigating potential Espionage Act violations by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.https://t.co/2XFvrTYy23
You can click the link in the tweet to read more of his comments.
Here are a few recommendations from the IG report via Bloomberg’s Jennifer Jacobs:
*Some* of the RECOMMENDATIONS in new IG report:
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) June 14, 2018
—take care before taking steps that could “impact an election”
—don’t make public statements on conduct of people not charged with anything
—don’t announce a charging decision without consulting AG, DAG or US attorney
Some of the recommendations in new IG report:
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) June 14, 2018
—better monitoring and retention of DOJ employees’ text messages
—add a warning banner on FBI cellphones that messages aren’t private
—review campaign donations DOJ employees or spouses run for office.
She says this is the bottom line:
Bottom line on IG report: It concludes Comey was coloring outside the lines, but it wasn’t to help Hillary Clinton.
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) June 14, 2018
“While did not find that these decisions were the result of political bias on Comey’s part,“ he departed “dramatically from FBI and department norms.”
Here’s something along the same lines:
IG report: “We found no evidence that the conclusions by the prosecutors were affected by bias or other improper considerations; rather, we determined that they were based on the prosecutors’ assessment of the facts, the law, and past Department practice.”
— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) June 14, 2018
Yeah that’s going to be a very hard sell if you ask me. I mean it’s the head of the FBI that we’re talking about.
And lastly, here’s a little doozy for you:
IG REPORT: "We found that, given the absence of exigent circumstances and the frequency with which the use of
— Sam Stein (@samstein) June 14, 2018
personal email occurred, Comey’s use of a personal email account for unclassified FBI business to be
inconsistent with Department policy."
Wow. You’ve got to be kidding me!
As an aside, here are some reasonable questions to contemplate from a Senior Fellow at Brookings:
Here are the key questions to keep your eyes on: /2/
— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) June 14, 2018
Does the IG provide any reason to believe that the Clinton email investigation was not conducted in good faith? /3/
— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) June 14, 2018
Does the IG offer any reason to believe that the investigation’s judgements were influenced in any direction by politics? /4/
— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) June 14, 2018
Does the IG offer any reason to believe the fundamental judgment not to prosecute Hillary Clinton (or anyone else) was in error? /5/
— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) June 14, 2018
Does the IG offer any reason to believe that any senior official in the FBI engaged in any misconduct or abuse? /6/
— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) June 14, 2018
Assuming that the IG will criticize @Comey’s judgments in July and October 2016 regarding his two fateful public steps in the case, what does the report add to our understanding of his actions?
— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) June 14, 2018
And how does he evaluate the behavior of both Loretta Lynch and Sally Yates? /7/
Does he find any misconduct by Peter Strzok and Lisa Page? Or have the names of these two career officials been dragged through the fever swamp mud for months for nothing more than bad judgment in expressing private views to one another? /8/
— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) June 14, 2018
These are the big questions. Don’t get distracted from them.
— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) June 14, 2018
That’s all I got—for now. /9/
Notice these questions were written before the leaks started rolling out.