Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Comey ‘hurt Clinton’s election campaign’
Ex-staffer claims report shows FBI sabotaged her
FORMER FBI director James Comey made a “serious error of judgement” when he announced shortly before the 2016 US presidential election he was reopening an investigation into candidate Hillary Clinton’s use of a private e-mail server, the Justice Department’s internal watchdog said.
But inspector- general Michael Horowitz also concluded in a long-awaited report that Comey did not exhibit any political bias or try to influence the election. Horowitz also did not contest the decision not to prosecute Clinton for the e-mail affair.
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 e-mails influenced the campaign.
He later headed a separate investigation into alleged ties between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia.
Trump fired him as head of the FBI last year and has frequently criticised him since.
Both sides of the partisan divide in US politics are expected to use the Horowitz report to press their cases against Comey. The inspector-general’s inquiry focused on public statements made by Comey about Clinton’s use of the private e-mail server, instead of a State Department server, while she was secretary of state. In October 2016, less than two weeks before election day, Comey sent members of Congress a letter disclosing that a probe into Clinton’s e-mails was being reopened after new e-mails were found.
Two days before the November 8 election, Comey said the FBI found no additional evidence in the new e-mails, but Clinton contends the letter contributed to her defeat by Trump.
John Podesta, who ran the Clinton campaign, said “the (Horowitz) report demonstrates beyond doubt” that Comey was unfair to Clinton by announcing developments in the e-mail investigation during the campaign while not revealing the separate probe, beginning in July 2016, into the Trump campaign and Russia.
“This report confirms what we have known for a long time – that the FBI inappropriately applied a double standard to the Clinton and Trump investigations which hurt her and helped elect him.”
Trump’s allies have signalled they would use the Horowitz report to press their argument that Comey did not act properly while overseeing the Russia probe.
“The end result ( of the report) was wrong,” Trump told Fox News. “There was total bias when you look at… Comey and all his moves.”
The report sharply criti- cised Comey for violating Justice Department policies and accused him of usurping the authority of then Attorney- General Loretta Lynch when in July 2016 he held a news conference to announce there would be no charges against Clinton for her e-mail use. Comey said Lynch forced his hand when she did not recuse herself from the Clinton probe, even after a June 2016 meeting with former president Bill Clinton raised concerns she was conflicted.
The report found that while Lynch did not discuss the e-mail investigation with Bill Clinton, she failed “to recognise the appearance problem” created by the meeting.
Trump and his allies have accused a clique of FBI and Justice Department officials of working against Trump.
The Horowitz report was highly critical of Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, two FBI staff members who exchanged highly charged political messages, finding their texts cast a cloud over the FBI and created the appearance of bias.
In one newly released e-mail from August 2016, Page writes to Strzok asking, “(Trump’s) not ever going to become president, right? Right!”
Strzok replies: “No. No he’s not. We’ll stop it.” – Reuters