Page 5 - ARUBA TODAY

A5
U.S. NEWS Friday 15 June 2018

Watchdog: Comey insubordinate, not biased in Clinton probe

The inspector general con- “this Russia thing.” avoid supervision by de-
cluded that the FBI direc- On the other side, even partment leadership over
tor, who announced in the absent political bias, the his actions,” the report says.
summer of 2016 that Clin- report alleges a long series Comey has said he was
ton had been “extremely of misjudgments that Dem- concerned that the Justice
careless” with classified ocrats will likely use to sup- Department itself could
material but would not be port their belief that Clinton not credibly announce the
charged with any crime, was wronged by the FBI. conclusion of its investiga-
departed from normal Jus- The watchdog faults Com- tion, in part because Lynch
tice Department protocol ey for his unusual July 5, had met earlier in the sum-
numerous times. 2016, news conference mer aboard her plane with
But it also said, “We found at which he disclosed his former President Bill Clinton.
no evidence that the con- recommendation against Both said they did not dis-
clusions by the prosecu- bringing charges in the cuss Hillary Clinton’s case.
tors were affected by bias email investigation. Cases Concerned about the “ap-
or other improper consid- that end without charges pearance that former Presi-
erations; rather, we de- are rarely discussed pub- dent Clinton was influenc-
termined that they were licly. And Comey did not ing” the probe, Lynch be-
based on the prosecutors’ In this April 6, 2017, file photo, former Secretary of State Hillary reveal to Attorney General gan talking to her staff the
assessment of the facts, the Clinton speaks in New York. Loretta Lynch his plans to next morning about pos-
law and past department Associated Press make an announcement. sibly recusing herself from
practice.” port “reaffirmed the presi- Russia that was diverting FBI “We found that it was ex- overseeing the investiga-
The conclusions were con- dent’s suspicions about resources and attention. traordinary and insubor- tion, according to the re-
tained in a 500-page re- Comey’s conduct and The Russia investigation dinate for Comey to do port. She told the inspector
port that documents in the political bias amongst was unknown at the time so, and we found none general she decided not to
painstaking detail one of some of the members of to the American public. of his reasons to be a per- step aside because it might
the most consequential in- the FBI.” The FBI, in a statement ac- suasive basis for deviating “create a misimpression”
vestigations in modern FBI But the report rejects the companying the report, from well-established De- that she and the former
history and reveals how the Trump talking point that the accepted the conclusion partment policies in a way president had discussed in-
bureau, which for decades FBI favored Clinton over him that Comey broke from intentionally designed to appropriate things.q
has endeavored to stand and that its leaders were protocol and that errors
apart from politics, came driven by politics. It also in judgment by staff dam-
to be entangled in the 2016 does not second-guess the aged the bureau’s reputa-
presidential election. FBI’s conclusion that Clin- tion. Comey wrote an opin-
Trump supporters quickly ton should not have been ion piece for The New York
focused on the report’s prosecuted, despite re- Times in which he said he
recounting of anti-Trump peated assertions by Trump disagreed with some con-
text messages from two FBI and his supporters that clusions but respected the
officials who worked the anyone less politically con- watchdog’s work.
Clinton probe and later the nected would have been Trump is certain to use the
Russia case, including one charged. report’s harsh assessment
in which an agent says, The report underscores ef- of FBI actions to try to vali-
“We’ll stop it” with regard forts by senior FBI and Jus- date his firing of Comey
to a possible Trump victory. tice Department leaders in last year, an act central
The report suggests that the final stages of the presi- to special counsel Rob-
text from Peter Strzok, who dential race to juggle de- ert Mueller’s investigation
was later dropped from velopments in the Clinton into whether the president
Mueller’s team, “implies a investigation — she had sought to obstruct justice.
willingness to take official used private email for some The White House cited as
action to impact the presi- government business while the original rationale for
dential candidate’s elec- secretary of state — with a Comey’s firing his handling
toral prospects.” separate probe into poten- of the Clinton investigation,
Spokeswoman Sarah Huck- tial coordination between even though Trump days
abee Sanders said the re- the Trump campaign and later said he was thinking of