https://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/ig-report-clinton-email-investigation-political-bias/
The IG Report Shows That The Fix Was In From Start Of The Clinton Email Investigation
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Scandal: The long-awaited report from the Justice Department's inspector general about the FBI's handling of the Clinton email scandal seems to absolve the bureau of any political bias. What it really shows, however, is that the FBI — under pressure from President Obama — was just going through the motions the whole time.
Most of the focus of the report in the news has been on its criticism of then FBI director James Comey. The IG says that some of his actions were "extraordinary and insubordinate" — a scathing indictment if there ever was one. It is another black mark on Comey's already badly tarnished reputation, and well deserved.
However, the report also finds that there was "no evidence that the conclusions by department prosecutors were affected by bias or other improper considerations."
Naturally, that's what Democrats have seized on as proof that, aside from Comey's bungling, the FBI did its job.
But look at the report in its totality and you see that time and again officials made "judgment calls" that weakened their investigation. In other words, from the range of options available to them, they consistently chose the less aggressive course of action.
It says, for instance that "We questioned why the Midyear team" — referring to the "Midyear Review" code name given to the Clinton investigation — "did not serve subpoenas on or seek to obtain search warrants related to the last known persons to possess devices that the team was never able to locate."
At another point it says that the FBI had considered obtaining permission from the Department to review certain classified materials that may have included information potentially relevant to the investigation." And while "the Midyear team drafted a memorandum to the Deputy Attorney General in late May 2016 stating that review of the highly classified materials was necessary to complete the investigation and requesting permission to access them, the FBI never sent this request to the Department."
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At another it says that "The Midyear team did not obtain or review some evidence that we found might have been useful to the investigation."
And the IG report notes that "several members of the FBI Midyear team, including Comey, expressed concerns that the prosecutors had not been sufficiently aggressive."
It says "the decision to allow the Clinton interview to proceed in the presence of two fact witnesses, who also were serving as Clinton's counsel, was inconsistent with typical investigative strategy and gave rise to accusations of bias and preferential treatment."
The report also notes that the reasons given for why the FBI sat on news about Anthony Weiner's laptop for almost a month were totally unconvincing. One of them was that FBI resources had been redirected to the Trump-Russia probe. But as the IG notes, the FBI had enough resources to prepare speeches, talking points and other material defending their earlier decision to drop the case.
Evidence of Bias
Plus, the IG did find evidence of bias.
As the IG report notes, one of the agents involved in both the Clinton and Russia investigations — Peter Strzok — was texting FBI attorney Lisa Page saying things like how "we'll stop" Trump from being elected. This, the IG says, meant that his decisions regarding the Clinton email investigation might not have been "free from bias."
Then there's the text from Page, regarding the interview with Clinton, saying that "One more thing: she might be our next president. The last thing you need (is) us going in there loaded for bear. You think she's going to remember or care that it was more doj than fbi?"
To that the IG said "suggesting that investigative decisions be based on this consideration was inappropriate and created an appearance of bias."
But underlying all of this is the fact — made clear throughout the report — that the FBI never thought there was a case here to begin with.
"As early as September 2015," it says, "FBI and Department officials realized that they were unlikely to find evidence of intent."
And at several junctures, decisions made during the investigation were colored by the fact that the FBI had already decided they wouldn't pursue any legal action against Clinton.
One example involved getting laptops from top Clinton aides.
"Decisions concerning the laptops were occurring at a time when Comey and the Midyear team had already concluded that there was likely no prosecutable case and believed it was unlikely the culling laptops would change the outcome of the investigation."
Obama's Thumb On The Scale
The report also, whether intentionally or not, makes it clear why the FBI had concluded early on that there wasn't a case against Clinton: President Obama had already cleared Hillary of any wrongdoing.
The IG report recalls how, during a 60 Minutes interview on October 11, 2015, Obama "characterized former Secretary Clinton's use of a private email server as a 'mistake,' but stated that it did not 'pose a national security problem' and was 'not a situation in which America's national security was endangered.' Obama also stated that the issue had been 'ginned up' because of the presidential race."
It goes on to say that "Obama's comments caused concern among FBI officials about the potential impact on the investigation."
Former EAD John Giacalone told the IG, "We open up criminal investigations. And you have the President of the United States saying this is just a mistake ... That's a problem, right?"
Obama repeated his absolution in April 2016 — right around the time Comey was starting to draft his statement dropping the case against Clinton.
"Obama stated that while former Secretary Clinton had been 'careless' in managing her emails while she was Secretary of State, she would never intentionally do anything to endanger the security of the United States with her emails."
So, while the IG might not have found smoking-gun evidence of political bias in the investigation, the report makes it clear that the entire investigation was biased from the start.
From Obama on down, no one ever wanted or intended to do what should have been done: Prosecute Clinton for gross negligence in her handling of highly classified material. The entire investigation was just for show.
The IG Report Shows That The Fix Was In From Start Of The Clinton Email Investigation
Reprints
- 6/14/2018
Scandal: The long-awaited report from the Justice Department's inspector general about the FBI's handling of the Clinton email scandal seems to absolve the bureau of any political bias. What it really shows, however, is that the FBI — under pressure from President Obama — was just going through the motions the whole time.
Most of the focus of the report in the news has been on its criticism of then FBI director James Comey. The IG says that some of his actions were "extraordinary and insubordinate" — a scathing indictment if there ever was one. It is another black mark on Comey's already badly tarnished reputation, and well deserved.
However, the report also finds that there was "no evidence that the conclusions by department prosecutors were affected by bias or other improper considerations."
Naturally, that's what Democrats have seized on as proof that, aside from Comey's bungling, the FBI did its job.
But look at the report in its totality and you see that time and again officials made "judgment calls" that weakened their investigation. In other words, from the range of options available to them, they consistently chose the less aggressive course of action.
It says, for instance that "We questioned why the Midyear team" — referring to the "Midyear Review" code name given to the Clinton investigation — "did not serve subpoenas on or seek to obtain search warrants related to the last known persons to possess devices that the team was never able to locate."
At another point it says that the FBI had considered obtaining permission from the Department to review certain classified materials that may have included information potentially relevant to the investigation." And while "the Midyear team drafted a memorandum to the Deputy Attorney General in late May 2016 stating that review of the highly classified materials was necessary to complete the investigation and requesting permission to access them, the FBI never sent this request to the Department."
IBD Newsletters
Get exclusive IBD analysis and action news daily.
At another it says that "The Midyear team did not obtain or review some evidence that we found might have been useful to the investigation."
And the IG report notes that "several members of the FBI Midyear team, including Comey, expressed concerns that the prosecutors had not been sufficiently aggressive."
It says "the decision to allow the Clinton interview to proceed in the presence of two fact witnesses, who also were serving as Clinton's counsel, was inconsistent with typical investigative strategy and gave rise to accusations of bias and preferential treatment."
The report also notes that the reasons given for why the FBI sat on news about Anthony Weiner's laptop for almost a month were totally unconvincing. One of them was that FBI resources had been redirected to the Trump-Russia probe. But as the IG notes, the FBI had enough resources to prepare speeches, talking points and other material defending their earlier decision to drop the case.
Evidence of Bias
Plus, the IG did find evidence of bias.
As the IG report notes, one of the agents involved in both the Clinton and Russia investigations — Peter Strzok — was texting FBI attorney Lisa Page saying things like how "we'll stop" Trump from being elected. This, the IG says, meant that his decisions regarding the Clinton email investigation might not have been "free from bias."
Then there's the text from Page, regarding the interview with Clinton, saying that "One more thing: she might be our next president. The last thing you need (is) us going in there loaded for bear. You think she's going to remember or care that it was more doj than fbi?"
To that the IG said "suggesting that investigative decisions be based on this consideration was inappropriate and created an appearance of bias."
But underlying all of this is the fact — made clear throughout the report — that the FBI never thought there was a case here to begin with.
"As early as September 2015," it says, "FBI and Department officials realized that they were unlikely to find evidence of intent."
And at several junctures, decisions made during the investigation were colored by the fact that the FBI had already decided they wouldn't pursue any legal action against Clinton.
One example involved getting laptops from top Clinton aides.
"Decisions concerning the laptops were occurring at a time when Comey and the Midyear team had already concluded that there was likely no prosecutable case and believed it was unlikely the culling laptops would change the outcome of the investigation."
Obama's Thumb On The Scale
The report also, whether intentionally or not, makes it clear why the FBI had concluded early on that there wasn't a case against Clinton: President Obama had already cleared Hillary of any wrongdoing.
The IG report recalls how, during a 60 Minutes interview on October 11, 2015, Obama "characterized former Secretary Clinton's use of a private email server as a 'mistake,' but stated that it did not 'pose a national security problem' and was 'not a situation in which America's national security was endangered.' Obama also stated that the issue had been 'ginned up' because of the presidential race."
It goes on to say that "Obama's comments caused concern among FBI officials about the potential impact on the investigation."
Former EAD John Giacalone told the IG, "We open up criminal investigations. And you have the President of the United States saying this is just a mistake ... That's a problem, right?"
Obama repeated his absolution in April 2016 — right around the time Comey was starting to draft his statement dropping the case against Clinton.
"Obama stated that while former Secretary Clinton had been 'careless' in managing her emails while she was Secretary of State, she would never intentionally do anything to endanger the security of the United States with her emails."
So, while the IG might not have found smoking-gun evidence of political bias in the investigation, the report makes it clear that the entire investigation was biased from the start.
From Obama on down, no one ever wanted or intended to do what should have been done: Prosecute Clinton for gross negligence in her handling of highly classified material. The entire investigation was just for show.
