Washington is on edge as it awaits the release of the highly-anticipated watchdog report on the FBI's handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation, a potentially explosive document that is expected to be highly critical of former FBI director James Comey and other officials. The Department of Justice Inspector General's report is expected to address multiple questions that have lingered about the FBI's actions leading up to the 2016 presidential election, in which Clinton found herself exonerated and then subject to another investigation in the days before voters went to the polls. In addition to Comey, a number of high-profile names could be featured when the report, written by Michael Horowitz, makes its debut. Former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe's actions are being investigated as are 'allegations that the Department and FBI employees improperly disclosed non-public information.' That could result in former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani making an appearance in regards to remarks he made a few days before Comey announced he was reopening the investigation of Clinton's email. Those named in report, however, have been warned of its content and have the chance to respond to the findings featured in its pages.
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An inspector general report on the FBI's actions in the Hillary Clinton email probe is expected to be highly critical of former FBI director James Comey.
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The inspector general at the Department of Justice has spent over a year investigating the FBI's actions in their investigation of Hillary Clinton's email, including the revelation made days before the election the probe into her had been reopened.
Their lawyers have been given the opportunity to review the report with them and offer rebuttals, which is a normal part of the process with inspector general reports. The report, which has been in the works for the past 17 months, is also expected to give plenty of political ammunition to President Donald Trump, who fired Comey. And Trump has said in the past Comey and McCabe had 'committed many crimes' during their tenure at the bureau. The report has been completed, Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz told members of Congress in a letter, and is in the hands of leadership at the Department of Justice and the FBI for review for classified information. He did not offer a date for its release. 'We will update you on the specific timing for the report's release, and I will be prepared to provide a briefing and testify publicly about our findings and conclusions as soon as the report is released,' Horowitz wrote, according to Fox News.
When Horowitz announced the investigation in January 2017 he said it would include an examination Comey's actions regarding Clinton, such as his July announcement -- without notifying his DoJ bosses — that the FBI recommended Clinton not face charges for her handling of classified information and then for revealing to Congress just weeks before the election day the FBI had resumed its investigation of her email. 'It's not going to be good, it's just a question of how bad it's going to be,' one former Justice Department official told CNN of the report. Trump has hammered home a charge that Comey lied under oath to the Senate Judiciary Committee last May when the then-FBI director said he'd never served as an anonymous source. Comey also said he'd never authorized anyone else to be an anonymous source.
The report is examining whether the FBI improperly disclosed information, which could address an interview Rudy Giuliani gave a few days before James Comey announced the reopening of the investigation into Clinton, in which he hinted he knew something was coming.
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The report, which has been in the works for the past 17 months, is also expected to give plenty of political ammunition to President Donald Trump, who fired James Comey and said he committed 'many crimes' during his tenure at the FBI.
That was days before Trump fired him. Comey later acknowledged that he instructed a friend to distribute copies of the memos he kept on his meetings with on Trump, which took place after Trump dismissed him. Additionally, as part of the report's purview to examine whether or not the FBI improperly released information, the report could reveal whether or not FBI agents in New York leaked information about the Clinton investigation to Giuliani, then an adviser to the Trump campaign. Giuliani went on Fox News two days before Comey revealed he had reopened the investigation and said Trump had 'a surprise or two that you're going to hear about in the next two days.' The former New York City mayor later backtracked that statement, telling CNN: 'I have not spoken to an on-duty FBI agent about anything I guess for the last 10 months. I've actually never talked about this investigation to any current member of the Justice Department or FBI agent.' Giuliani is now serving as one of Trump's private lawyers. The effects of Horowitz's investigative powers have already been felt in Washington. In March, McCabe was fired after a report from Horowitz's office concluded that he lied to investigators. McCabe has denied any wrongdoing.
