Grassley seeks more info about Comey’s decision on Clinton
“Although Director Comey’s original version of his statement acknowledged that Secretary Clinton had violated the statute ... he nonetheless exonerated her.” Chuck Grassley Senate Judiciary chairman
WASHINGTON – Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley said Monday he is seeking more details about James Comey’s decision as FBI director not to seek criminal charges against Hillary Clinton for her use of a private email server while she was secretary of State.
Specifically, the Iowa Republican wants to know why Comey exonerated Clinton in his public remarks in July 2016 when Comey had concluded in an earlier draft that Clinton violated a statute prohibiting “gross negligence in the handling of classified information.”
“Although Director Comey’s original version of his statement acknowledged that Secretary Clinton had violated the statute ... he nonetheless exonerated her in that early, May 2nd draft statement anyway, arguing that this part of the statute should not be enforced,” Grassley said in a letter Monday to current FBI Director Christopher Wray.
In a later version of those remarks, dated June 10, 2016, Comey deleted that legal language, instead referring to Clinton and her aides as “extremely careless,” the senator said.
Comey announced in July 2016 that he would not recommend charges against Clinton over her use of the private email server, although he chastised her and her aides for carelessness and said Clinton should have known better.
“Our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case,” Comey said at the time.
Grassley seeks the original format of the draft remarks, wanting to determine who is responsible for the edits. He also seeks records of any discussions about why the edits were made.
President Trump fired Comey in May as Comey led an FBI investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible collu- sion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials.
Comey testified in the spring to the Senate Intelligence Committee that Trump asked him to drop the investigation into ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn. Trump fired Flynn in February for misleading Vice President Pence and others in the White House about conversations he had with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
Special counsel Robert Mueller leads the Russia inquiry on behalf of the Department of Justice. Three congressional committees, including the Senate Judiciary Committee, also are conducting Russia investigations.
Democrats have complained that Republicans focus on Clinton as a way to divert attention away from Trump.