FBI Missed Key Evidence in Clinton Email Investigation

WASHINGTON – A recently declassified report has revealed that the FBI overlooked significant evidence regarding Hillary Clinton’s use of private email servers.

The report from the Department of Justice’s Inspector General disclosed that confidential sources provided the FBI with a thumb drive containing data from a cyber breach at the State Department.

Despite acknowledging a need to evaluate the national security risks tied to Clinton’s private server use, the FBI opted not to thoroughly examine the evidence, citing concerns about protecting victim data.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) criticized the bureau’s lack of diligence in investigating Clinton’s email practices and its insufficient efforts to probe classified information, referring to the findings as revealing a glaring absence of effort.

The senator also released a confidential appendix from the June 2018 watchdog report. It’s worth noting that former DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz has held the same positions at other federal agencies.

There’s uncertainty about whether the FBI has conducted a more extensive investigation of the hard drive since the 2018 report was made public.

During the 2016 election cycle, the FBI Cyber division tried accessing these hard drives as part of its investigation into Clinton, but was reportedly denied access.

Andrew McCabe, then the FBI’s deputy director, had urged the use of these drives for probing Russian interference in the election. However, concerns over protecting privileged information led to this request being rejected.

The thumb drive was questioned multiple times, with edits made to the original inquiries. Notably, at least one query came from the team led by former special counsel Robert Mueller, which sought information related to Clinton’s email domain.

Grassley expressed frustration that important evidence was seemingly overlooked during the investigation, mainly due to what he called a failure of basic investigative work by former FBI Director James Comey.

He indicated that Comey’s approach to the investigation contrasted sharply with the thoroughness displayed in the Trump-Russia collusion investigation.

Concerns Over Intelligence Handling

Another striking detail from the watchdog report appendix suggests that the FBI had dealings with Russian intelligence, leading former Attorney Generals Loretta Lynch and Comey to intervene politically.

It was noted that the investigation referred to communication involving then-Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz concerning the FBI’s lack of evidence against Clinton.

Authorities speculated that some intelligence may have stemmed from a cyber breach at the Atlantic Council.

The report also alleged that Comey, who was a registered Republican prior to 2016, seemed to orchestrate the investigation in a manner that could potentially undermine Clinton’s chances during the election.

Peter Strzok, the FBI’s counterintelligence director, reportedly encouraged keyword searches related to Russian documents, which revealed no connections to hacked communications.

Comey ultimately dismissed parts of the intelligence as unreliable, asserting that some witness statements were “verifiedly false.” He later defended his decision to keep Lynch in the dark prior to his July 2016 announcement that no criminal charges would be pursued against Clinton for her email use.

His declaration, exonerating Clinton, came before interviews with key witnesses tied to the investigation.

Following this, the FBI initiated an inquiry known as Crossfire Hurricane, which investigated whether Trump’s campaign conspired with Russia during the election.

“Nearly a decade later and here we are,” Grassley remarked regarding the newly released Watchdog appendix.