Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Senator Chuck Grassley is seeking original drafts of then FBI director James Comey’s statements on the Hillary Clinton email investigation. According to Grassley, changes to the remarks such as “grossly negligent,” edited to “extremely careless,” may have impacted the conclusion reached in the investigation.
Tweet credit: Byron Tau
https://twitter.com/ByronTau/status/927665708380688384
“Grassley writes to Wray. Wants more info about Comey saying FBI wouldn’t seek criminal charges in Clinton email server/classified info case…Comey “acknowledged..Clinton..violated the statute” handling classified info but was “nonetheless exonerated,” tweeted Fox News reporter Chad Pergram.
Tweet credit: Chad Pergram
Grassley writes to Wray. Wants more info about Comey saying FBI wouldn't seek criminal charges in Clinton email server/classified info case
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) November 6, 2017
Grassley to FBI's Wray. Says Comey "acknowledged..Clinton..violated the statute" handling classified info but was "nonetheless exonerated"
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) November 6, 2017
Grassley wrote to FBI head Chris Wray:
In that draft, the original language is shown to have included the following sentence: There is evidence to support a conclusion that Secretary Clinton, and others, used the private email server in a manner that was grossly negligent with respect to the handling of classified material.1 That same draft also included the following sentence: Similarly, the sheer volume of information that was properly classified as Secret at the time it was discussed on email (that is, excluding the “up classified” emails) supports an inference that the participants were grossly negligent in their handling of that information.2 As you are aware, 18 U.S.C. § 793(f) makes the mishandling of classified material through gross negligence a criminal act.
Click here to read the rest of Grassley’s letter.
Documents released in August show former FBI head James Comey exonerated Hillary Clinton before the investigation into her email conduct had concluded. Even more concerning is “Mr. Comey even circulated an early draft statement to select members of senior FBI leadership,” reports Townhall.
Townhall reports:
“According to the unredacted portions of the transcripts, it appears that in April or early May of 2016, Mr. Comey had already decided he would issue a statement exonerating Secretary Clinton. That was long before FBI agents finished their work. Mr. Comey even circulated an early draft statement to select members of senior FBI leadership. The outcome of an investigation should not be prejudged while FBI agents are still hard at work trying to gather the facts,” the letter, signed by Chairman Chuck Grassley and Committee member Lindsey Graham states. “Conclusion first, fact-gathering second—that’s no way to run an investigation. The FBI should be held to a higher standard than that, especially in a matter of such great public interest and controversy.”
