Former FBI director James Comey did not follow protocol in his handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server and improperly shared information about the probe with the public, a review of the agency’s actions during the 2016 US presidential campaign has concluded.
But the report by the Justice Department’s internal watchdog found no evidence to support President Donald Trump’s claim that the agency was motivated by political animus as it investigates potential collusion between his campaign and Russia.
The FBI’s probe stemmed from Clinton’s use of a persona email server while she was the secretary of state. The
investigation focused on whether Clinton sent or received classified information through a server in the basement of her New York home, which was not authorised to handle such messages.
“We concluded that Comey’s unilateral announcement was inconsistent with the department policy and violated long-standing Department practice and protocol by, among other things, criticising Clinton’s uncharged conduct,” the report said.
“We also found that Comey usurped the authority of the attorney general, and inadequately and incompletely described the legal position of department prosecutors,” it added. Reacting to the report, President Trump said it is a “total disaster” for Comey and the FBI itself. “The IG Report is a total disaster for Comey, his minions and sadly, the FBI,” Trump tweeted in his first public comment on the Justice Department inspector general report issued on Thursday.
“Comey will now officially go down as the worst leader, by far, in the history of the FBI. I did a great service to the people in firing him. Good Instincts,” Trump added.
The over 500-page report Office of the Inspector General, said it had discovered text and instant messages between some FBI employees that expressed statements of hostility towards the then candidate Trump and that of support for Clinton. “We also identified messages that expressed opinions that were critical of the conduct and quality of the investigation,” said the report, which the White House said vindicates the consistent stand of Trump in this regard.