Oh, So That's Why the DOJ Inspector General Couldn't Find the FBI Leakers from 2016
Matt Vespa
Posted: Aug 05, 2021 3:30 PM
What the hell is going on at the FBI? You can say the same about the Department of Justice overall. After years of investigating the leaks to the press during the 2016 election, DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz said that they don’t know who was leaking because it seems as if everyone was just talking to the press willy-nilly and sharing sensitive information. In short, there were more leaks at the FBI than the Iraqi Navy during the 2016 race at a time when our nation’s preeminent law enforcement and domestic intelligence agency had to be as apolitical as possible. We all know they failed in every phase of that endeavor. It took four years for this report to drop—where the conclusion was the FBI could not figure who was leaking stuff to the press from…the FBI. Oh, and the suspicion that Rudy Giuliani has insider knowledge of the FBI probe into Hillary Clinton turned out to be a huge nothing burger as well. (via WaPo):
A four-year probe by the Justice Department Inspector General could not determine who in the FBI spoke to reporters about sensitive subjects during the 2016 election, or find evidence that Rudolph W. Giuliani had inside information about an investigation into Hillary Clinton that upended the race in its final days.
The report issued Thursday by Inspector General Michael Horowitz said there were “substantial media contacts” with numerous FBI employees, but the evidence could not “determine whether these media contacts resulted in the disclosure of nonpublic information.”
Horowitz faulted what he called “a cultural attitude at the FBI that was far too permissive of unauthorized media contacts in 2016.”
The 10-page report is the long-awaited summary of an issue that consumed the FBI and Justice Department during the presidential contest between Clinton and Donald Trump. The FBI director at the time, James B. Comey, told the inspector general that he was determined to find out who was leaking to reporters, particularly after articles about internal disputes between the Justice Department and the FBI over how to handle a faltering probe of the Clinton Foundation.
[…]
Horowitz said there were simply too many contacts between reporters and the FBI to determine who might have told journalists about sensitive details of cases. His office did find misconduct by three senior FBI officials who accepted things of value from reporters, like tickets to a baseball game, or a seat at a dinner function.
[…]
The findings on Giuliani’s pre-election claims are emblematic of a long-running leak investigation that ultimately led nowhere.
Two days before Comey’s announcement, Giuliani — a former U.S. Attorney in New York who had become an outspoken Trump supporter — said on Fox News that the GOP nominee had “a surprise or two that you’re going to hear about in the next few days. I mean, I’m talking about some pretty big surprises.”
After Comey’s announcement, suspicions intensified that Giuliani had inside information about the Clinton case.
more
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2021/08/05/the-fbi-cannot-figure-who-was-leaking-sensitive-info-to-the-pressfrom-the-fbi-n2593667
