The Washington Post says that a draft report from Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz on the FBI criminal investigation of Hillary Clinton’s email fiasco has been submitted for review to the agencies and individuals involved.
Some of the individuals named in the IG report are; James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Loretta Lynch, Lisa Page, and FBI agent Peter Strzok. Of these, only Strzok is still in the employ of the government. These people, as well as the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, will have an opportunity to review and provide feedback to the IG before the final report is released. The WaPo story indicates this is a normal practice. The story also suggests that the IG report is particularly critical of Comey. Among other things, James Comey infamously held a press conference on July 5, 2016, four months before the 2016 presidential election to announce that the FBI would not refer charges against Clinton to the DOJ.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton allegedly kept an unauthorized and unsecured email server and used it for official government communications, endangering national security. The scandal was exacerbated by the dubious and suspect way in which the FBI and the DOJ handled the criminal investigation. The focus of the IG probe has been on potential misconduct of the DOJ and FBI.
The final version of the IG report will probably be made public sometime next month according to the WaPo story.
Why This Matters
The foundation of our nation is the Rule of Law. Without the Rule of Law, government defaults to the rule of man. Under the rule of man, those in power invariably decide they are above the laws they make and enforce on everyone else.
The FBI should have referred charges against Clinton and the DOJ should have prosecuted. If she had been found guilty, she should have served time in prison. Top law enforcement officials also must not be above our laws, the same laws that have punished many other American citizens who lack the political clout and connections to avoid prosecution. Let’s hope the IG report is as tough on those named as is rumored.
The politicization of the DOJ and the FBI under Eric Holder and Barack Obama is possibly the greatest threat to the Rule of Law in American history. This is a transgression which must be corrected if the republic is to survive. The FBI and the DOJ must be depoliticized.
