The Department of Justice inspector general will launch an investigation into certain FBI and Justice Department actions ahead of the presidential election.
DOJ Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz will try to see if FBI Director James Comey’s press conference and letter to Congress before the election about a new probe into Hillary Clinton’s emails were appropriate under agency guidelines.
Horowitz announced the investigation Thursday “in response to requests from numerous Chairmen and Ranking Members of Congressional oversight committees, various organizations, and members of the public,” Politico reported.
“Allegations that decisions regarding the timing of the FBI’s release of certain Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) documents on October 30 and November 1, 2016, and the use of a Twitter account to publicize same, were influenced by improper considerations,” he also said in a statement, CNBC reported.
Comey’s letter to Congress came under two weeks before Election Day. The weekend before Nov. 8, his office announced that no charges will be pursued against Clinton. The letter stemmed from new emails that were discovered on a laptop shared by Clinton aide Huma Abedin and her estranged husband, Anthony Weiner.
The department added it would investigate whether a top FBI official who has ties to Virginia’s Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe should have recused himself in the investigation.
Other details were not made immediately clear.
