Report rebukes Comey, but says no bias in Clinton email case
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 longawaited, 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 mid2016 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.