What to Look For in Tomorrow's IG Report

The Federalist's Margot Cleveland catches us up:

[H]orowitz's report will indicate whether there will be calls for a fresh investigation of Hillary Clinton for her use of a private server and reckless handling of classified material while U.S. secretary of state. IG Horowitz is not investigating Clinton, but the OIG’s focus on the FBI and DOJ's handling of the Clinton investigation and report will likely reveal numerous deficiencies in the underlying probe. The deficiencies exposed will prompt calls for a new, unbiased, and thorough investigation of Clinton.

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Further, in discussing "certain underlying investigative decisions were based on improper considerations," look for the IG report to focus on Comey's drafting of a memo exonerating Hillary Clinton while the probe was still ongoing and before the FBI had interviewed Hillary and two of her top aides.

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The second aspect of the OIG’s investigation focused on "[a]llegations that the FBI Deputy Director should have been recused from participating in certain investigative matters." While the earlier IG report addressed McCabe's leaking and lies about it, this portion of the report will address McCabe's participation in the Clinton investigation given the conflict of interest stemming from his wife’s unsuccessful senatorial run in Virginia.

Documents obtained in a Freedom of Information Act request revealed that "[g]roups aligned with Clinton and McAuliffe donated $675,000 to Jill McCabe’s Senate campaign which amounted to nearly 40 percent of the campaign's total funds.” In addition to discussing whether McCabe should have recused from the investigation, Horowitz's report will likely discuss the FBI’s ethics office decision that recusal was not required, and the FBI's creation of "talking points" to counter complaints about McCabe's participation in the Clinton probe.

The third component of the OIG's investigation looked at "[a]llegations that the Department’s Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs improperly disclosed non-public information to the Clinton campaign and/or should have been recused from participating in certain matters." This portion of Horowitz’s report will focus on Peter Kadzik's role in the investigation and whether he "tipped off Clinton presidential campaign chairman John Podesta about two issues: an upcoming hearing where a Justice Department official would be asked about the Clinton emails, and the timing of the release of some Clinton emails."

Kadzik, who has since left his role as the DOJ's assistant attorney general, "previously worked for Podesta as an attorney."

Some of that sounds pretty interesting.

One area that the report will cover is whether or not Comey was unfair to Hillary Clinton by announcing her misdeeds in a speech which exonerated her. I have a feeling that will constitute the bulk of most criticism of Comey. Because, of course.

posted by Ace of Spades at 03:23 PM

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