FBI kept working on Clinton emails
Weeks after case said to be closed, agents questioned top aide.
The FBI WASHINGTON — interviewed top Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin around the holidays last winter
— more than a month and a half after the politically charged investigation into Clinton’s email practices had seemed to conclude for a second time, according to people familiar with the probe.
Agents were focused on how Abedin’s and Clinton’s messages ended up on a laptop used by former congressman Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., Abedin’s estranged husband, these people said. They considered their look at Clinton complete but still had questions about whether Abedin should have told them about the messages sooner, the people said.
Prosecutors had told Abedin throughout the case that she was a witness, a person familiar with the matter said, and after talking with her for a final time, they would conclude they had no reason to charge her with any crimes. Typically, witnesses are not viewed suspiciously by investigators, unlike those categorized as subjects or targets of an investigation.
The interview is important, though, because it shows that even after the bureau had intimated publicly that its probe into Clinton was over, the FBI knew it still had work to do with one of her close aides. It is also notable for one of the people advocating it: FBI Agent Peter Strzok, a key figure in both the Clinton probe and the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, whose anti-Trump texts have come under scrutiny.
Karen Dunn, Abedin’s lawyer, said, “There was never any suggestion by the government that Huma had done anything wrong. To the contrary, she was told that her full and voluntary cooperation as a witness in their investigation was appreciated. Having done her part to assist the government, Huma is a private citizen now and should be left to live her life in peace.”
A spokeswoman for the FBI declined to comment. The people familiar with the case spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The Justice Department’s inspector general has been probing how the FBI handled the Clinton email investigation. Republicans have seized on Strzok’s text messages — which they say show anti-Trump, pro-Clinton bias from Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page.
The two were, for a time, assigned to both the Clinton email case and the investigation into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia — though Page left the Russia investigation, and Strzok was later removed from it after the texts were discovered.
“Talked with DoJ about HA interview,” Strzok wrote on Dec. 13, 2016. “Told them we had to interview, no immunity. They said they thought that would get counsel to the point of saying she’s either taking the 5th in the Gj or you need to give her immunity. I said that’s fine, please have discussions to get the decision to that point and I would run up the chain.”
DoJ refers to the Department of Justice, the “5th” refers to the Fifth Amendment right of people not to incriminate themselves, and “Gj” refers to the grand jury, which can compel testimony.
People familiar with the investigation said Abedin ultimately sat for an interview without a promise of immunity, and agents believed her when she said that she had been previously unaware of how her emails could have ended up on Weiner’s computer. Some had been forwarded to her husband and others ended up there because of an automated backup process.
Strzok’s text about Abedin appears to rebut the notion that he was pulling punches for Clinton or her associates, as it shows him advocating for aggressive steps if Abedin’s lawyer were to push for immunity.