Trump To Get Birthday Present From IG, Clinton Email Investigation Report To Be Released Soon
President Donald Trump is set to receive a birthday present from the Office of the Inspector General: the report on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s email server investigation.
Inspector General Michael Horowitz announced Thursday that the highly anticipated report on the Justice Department and FBI’s handling of the Clinton investigation is expected to be released on June 14, which is also Trump’s birthday, the Washington Examiner reported.
According to Horowitz’s letter written to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, the report is currently under review to determine if some of it will need to be classified before being publicly released, but “most of this process is now complete.”
After the report is released, Horowitz will testify on the findings in the report before the committee on June 18 in a hearing called “Examining the Inspector General’s First Report on Justice Department and FBI Actions in Advance of the 2016 Presidential Election.”
The announcement of the planned release of the Office of the Inspector General’s report comes days after Trump called for “transparency” after “numerous delays” of the report’s release.
“What is taking so long with the Inspector General’s Report on Crooked Hillary and Slippery James Comey. Numerous delays,” he wrote. “Hope Report is not being changed and made weaker! There are so many horrible things to tell, the public has the right to know. Transparency!”
Last month, Horowitz notified members of Congress that he had completed his report on the DOJ and FBI’s 2016 investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server. The Justice Department and FBI will be permitted to submit a formal response that will be attached to the final report.
The report is expected to be very critical of several top DOJ officials’ actions, including former FBI Director James Comey’s announcement in July 2016 that Mrs. Clinton had been “reckless” with the nation’s secrets but he was not recommending prosecuting her.
According to The Washington Post, “The report is expected to blast former FBI director James B. Comey for various steps he took in the investigation, particularly his announcing in July — without telling his Justice Department bosses what he was about to say — that the FBI was recommending that Clinton not be charged, and for revealing to Congress just weeks before the presidential election that the bureau had resumed its work.”
Following the 2016 election, Clinton blamed Comey’s letters to Congress about the developments in the email investigation for her defeat in 2016.
Horowitz’s investigation has reportedly looked into whether or not it was improper for Comey to make the public announcements about the investigation so close to the election, Fox News reported.
The Wall Street Journal added that the report is also expected to scrutinize whether former FBI Director Andrew McCabe should have recused himself from the Clinton investigation since his wife’s campaign for the Virginia legislature was aided by then-Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Clinton ally.
Horowitz has already referred the criminal findings on McCabe to the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington. The IG report sent to Congress in April found that McCabe “lacked candor” during multiple discussions with then-FBI Director James Comey, FBI investigators, and Office of Inspector General investigators regarding leaking sensitive information to the media.
Lying to federal investigators is punishable by up to five years in prison.
The report to be released this month is also likely to criticize the thousands of texts exchanged by two FBI employees — agent Peter Strzok and attorney Lisa Page — who were extremely critical of President Donald Trump and others, The Journal reported.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
