‘Dereliction of duty’: Obama scrutiny intensifies with call for new Hillary Clinton investigation
(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump’s allies are doubling down on investigations into members of the Obama administration, with two Republican lawmakers calling for a deeper investigation into former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s “email controversy.”
Clinton served as SOS under the Obama administration from 2009 to 2013 before running against then-Republican presidential candidate Trump in 2016 and losing.
While in her administrative position, Clinton used a private email server for official agency communications. The legally dubious move not only put thousands of emails with sensitive or classified information at risk, but also shielded her emails from Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
After a years-long FBI review, then-Director James Comey recommended that no charges be filed. But Republicans, fueled by recent revelations that Obama and Clinton may have knowingly fabricated the Trump-Russia collusion hoax, are now reiterating their concerns about the thoroughness of the Clinton investigation.
In that vein, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., released a letter Tuesday addressed to FBI Director Kash Patel.
In it, the lawmakers urged Patel to uncover and review certain materials stashed away that could shed further light on how the previous FBI “mishandled” the Clinton investigation.
“Comey’s FBI shockingly failed to review and exploit evidence in its own possession, even though they admitted in written memos the information was necessary to conduct a ‘thorough and complete investigation,” the lawmakers wrote. “We refuse to allow this dereliction of duty to continue.”
They pointed out that the omission, whether an oversight or coverup, is yet another example of the FBI’s “failure to impartially conduct its law enforcement and intelligence mission,” given the prior intelligence community’s disparate treatment of Trump.
“We know you will not similarly ignore evidence in your agency’s possession, no matter where its exploitation or conclusions might lead,” the lawmakers told Patel. “[We] look forward to receiving an update on forthcoming steps taken by the FBI to correct this historic investigative and national security failure.”
This story originally appeared in The Center Square.