DOJ inspector general, FBI director face questions from Congress on report

Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz and FBI Director Christopher A. Wray faced lawmakers to defend a report on the FBI’s investigation of Hillary Clinton’s e-mails, which rebuked the conduct of former director James B. Comey and senior investigators but found no evidence that bias affected the probe’s conclusion. Bias was not a factor in the decision against charging Clinton, Horowitz found, but he concluded that senior officials had indicated a “willingness to take official action” to hurt Donald Trump’s chances of becoming president. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-IA) asserted that the report showed Clinton “got the kid glove treatment,” and if it were not for the inspector general, FBI officials would “still be plotting about how to use their official position to stop” Trump from being elected president. The report detailed how investigators on the Clinton case shied from using subpoenas or other legal tools to force witnesses to testify or turn over materials, though it did not conclude the tactics were unreasonable.