Watchdog rips Comey but says bias didn’t taint Clinton probe

The inspector general turned up fresh evidence of FBI officials exchanging messages critical of Trump and leaking to the media.

A long-awaited report by the Justice Department’s watchdog Thursday found no indication that political bias affected decisions in the FBI’s 2016 investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email server, but the review criticized agents and ex-FBI Director James Comey for violating bureau norms during the probe.

The department’s inspector general turned up fresh evidence of FBI officials exchanging messages critical of President Donald Trump and of leaking to the media, and the report faulted the FBI for several weeks of inaction following the September 2016 discovery of emails relevant to its investigation on a laptop belonging to former Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner, who was married to a top Clinton aide.

Comey was singled out for withering criticism by Inspector General Michael Horowitz, including accusations of insubordination against top Justice Department officials and of making “a serious error of judgment” in notifying Congress shortly before the 2016 election that the FBI was re-opening its Clinton email probe. Comey later reiterated his recommendation that she not face charges, but Clinton has said the letter nonetheless helped cause her loss.

The report undercuts Trump’s argument that the FBI, acting for political reasons, let Clinton off the hook over her use of a private email server as secretary of state. But it likely will fuel his claims that FBI agents were biased against him, and Trump could point to Horowitz’s criticism of Comey as belated justification for the decision to fire him last year

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