FBI faces probe over Clinton emails

Inquiry will focus on director’s decisions during campaign.

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department inspector general’s office said Thursday it would open an investigation into the late October decision by FBI Director James Comey to inform Congress about a new review in the Hillary Clinton email investigation — a move Clinton has said cost her the election.

The inquiry is not a blow for Comey only. It also draws negative attention again to the FBI on an issue that agents had hoped was behind them.

The inspector general’s office said the investigation is being launched in response to complaints from members of Congress and the public about actions by the FBI and the Justice Department during the campaign that might be seen as politically motivated.

Chief among those actions was the decision by Comey to write two letters on the email matter within 11 days of the election, creating a wave of damaging news stories about the controversy late in the campaign. In the end, the new emails that the FBI reviewed — which came up during an unrelated inquiry into former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner of New York, the

estranged husband of a top Clinton aide, Huma Abedin — proved irrelevant.

But the inspector general, Michael Horowitz, said he would also be examining other issues, including whether the deputy director of the FBI, whose wife ran as a Democrat for the Virginia state Senate, should have recused himself from any involvement in the Clinton email investigation. Another issue is whether a top Justice Department official gave information to the Clinton campaign.

The ramifications of the investigation were not immediately clear. Horowitz has the authority to recommend a criminal investigation if he finds evidence of illegality, but there has been no suggestion that Comey’s actions were unlawful. Rather, the question has been whether he acted inappropriately, showed bad judgment or violated Justice Department guidelines.

The Justice Department and the FBI have a longstanding policy against discussing criminal investigations. Another Justice Department policy declares that politics should play no role in investigative decisions. Both Democratic and Republican administrations have interpreted that policy broadly to prohibit taking any steps that might even hint at an impression of partisanship.

It is extraordinarily rare for the inspector general to publicly disclose its investigations, particularly in such detail.

Comey’s actions attracted criticism from members of both parties. Some criticized him for releasing the letter at the height of the campaign. Donald Trump, on the other hand, accused him of being part of a rigged system because the FBI cleared Clinton of criminal liability.

Since the election, Trump has not indicated whether he intends to keep Comey in his job. Although the president does not need cause to fire the FBI director, a critical inspector general report could provide justification to do so if Trump is looking for some.

Brian Fallon, the former press secretary for the Clinton campaign who was once the top spokesman for the Justice Department, said: “This is highly encouraging and to be expected, given Director Comey’s drastic deviation from Justice Department protocol. A probe of this sort, however long it takes to conduct, is utterly necessary in order to take the first step to restore the FBI’s reputation as a nonpartisan institution.”

Horowitz, the inspector general, said he was also investigating whether the Justice Department’s top congressional liaison, Peter Kadzik, had improperly provided information to the Clinton campaign. A hacked email posted by WikiLeaks showed that Kadzik alerted the campaign about an upcoming congressional hearing that would most likely raise questions about Clinton.

In recent years, the inspector general has investigated accusations of wrongdoing by the FBI involving some of its most sensitive operations, including a number of surveillance and counterterrorism programs. But the inquiry announced on Thursday could cut more deeply, because Comey played such a prominent role in the email episode.

The bureau, which usually keeps its distance from presidential campaigns, found itself much more centrally involved this time because of its yearlong investigation into Clinton’s use of private email server.

FBI Director James Comey wrote two letters to Congress on the Clinton email matter late in the election.