Fresh concerns have emerged over the FBI’s handling of an investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while she served as U.S. Secretary of State under President Barack Obama.
A newly revealed report accuses the FBI of not properly examining classified data stored on thumb drives linked to Clinton’s controversial communication practices. The report also follows recent claims by U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who said the Obama administration created a “hoax” about Donald Trump’s alleged ties to Russia.
According to a declassified appendix from a June 2018 Justice Department Inspector General report, the FBI received thumb drives from a confidential source. These drives reportedly contained hacked government emails, including some from President Obama. Despite the sensitive nature of the data, the FBI reportedly “barely glanced” at the materials.
Senator Chuck Grassley responded strongly, saying: “This document shows an extreme lack of effort and due diligence in the FBI’s investigation of former Secretary Clinton’s email usage and mishandling of highly classified information.”
His office released a statement highlighting that top FBI officials, including former Director James Comey, Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, and Agent Peter Strzok, failed to carry out additional searches on the drives. These searches were initially recommended in a draft FBI memo.
https://twitter.com/ChuckGrassley/status/1947324460983296172
Grassley said the thumb drives included classified information taken from various U.S. agencies such as the State Department. They also allegedly had emails from President Obama and possibly even materials connected to Congress. Yet, despite the critical content, the drives were reportedly excluded from the main Clinton investigation.
The report was written by Michael Horowitz, who at the time served as Inspector General at the DOJ. He now holds the same position at the Federal Reserve Board and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. It remains unclear whether the FBI has ever conducted a full review of the thumb drives since the 2018 report.
The FBI's Cyber Division had attempted to access the hard drives during the 2016 presidential election. Their goal was to conduct targeted searches for anything related to Clinton’s email use. But their request was reportedly denied, according to a Fox News report.
In addition, Andrew McCabe had asked Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates for permission to include the drives in the FBI’s Russia probe. That request, too, was turned down. Officials reportedly feared that the FBI’s search parameters were too broad and might compromise sensitive information.
Before taking office in 2009, Clinton set up a private email server at her New York home. Throughout her time as Secretary of State, she used this private system for both official duties and personal communication—bypassing the State Department’s official email network.
In 2015, The New York Times reported that her actions “may have violated federal requirements” and raised alarms among government record-keeping officials.
Despite the uproar, the FBI later concluded that Clinton's server did not hold any documents that were clearly marked classified. She was eventually cleared of criminal wrongdoing.
