Grassley: FBI decision on Clinton probe 'suspect'



By Katie Bo Williams - 07/06/16 05:17 PM EDT

Sen. Charles Grassley (Iowa) on Wednesday joined the chorus of Republican voices hammering FBI Director James B. Comey for his recommendation Tuesday that Hillary Clinton not be indicted for her use of a personal email server.

The chairman of the Judiciary Committee chided the beleaguered director over his failure to answer a May letter asking if he believed a special counsel was warranted in the Clinton investigation — a rallying cry among some Republicans this spring — “in light of the conflicts of interest that exist between Department of Justice officials, such as the Attorney General, and Secretary Clinton.”

“Prosecutorial decisions made under the shadow of apparent conflicts of interest are understandably suspect,” Grassley wrote in his Wednesday letter to Comey.
The FBI probe has long been dogged by accusations from Republicans that it was subject to political pressure from the Obama administration — allegations that were inflamed after Attorney General Loretta Lynch had a 30-minute meeting with former President Bill Clinton last week.

Calling public skepticism over the FBI director’s announcement “reasonable,” Grassley called for more information about the investigation in a 17-item list of queries.

He joined other top Republicans demanding that the FBI to release the actual evidence it gathered in the course of its investigation, including the emails it recovered.

“The FBI should provide a detailed written accounting of the scope of its investigation, the investigative steps it took, and the evidence it gathered in the course of its investigation,” Grassley wrote. “Until the FBI does so, much of the public will rightly be skeptical of the integrity of this investigation.”

The expansive list of questions was wide-ranging. Among multiple questions about conflict of interest, Grassley also questioned whether Clinton's cybersecurity practices constituted "gross negligence.”

Buried in the last two queries in the letter was a question about whether the agency investigated “allegations of public corruption relating to the Clinton Foundation and former President Clinton’s speaking fees from foreign governments? If not, why not?”

http://thehill.com/policy/national-s...-probe-suspect