Congressional Republicans Quietly End Investigation Aimed At Undermining Mueller Investigation
Congressional Republicans this week quietly ended a years-long investigation into whether or not the FBI allowed political bias to taint their investigations into Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, Newsweek is reporting.
Republican lawmaker Robert Goodlatte, once chair of the House Judiciary Committee, and Republican Trey Gowdy, once chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, both believed that the FBI treated Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton differently in their investigations into the two candidates. Clinton was investigated for improper use of a private email server, while Trump was investigated for possible collusion with Russian agents before and during the 2016 campaign. Parts of the Clinton investigation continue, as does the Mueller investigation, which continues to expand in scope.
House Republicans, led by Goodlatte and Gowdy, began an investigation of their own — into the FBI itself. Specifically, the investigation wanted to determine if the FBI was thwarted or influenced by political bias in either of those investigations.
However, Goodlatte and Gowdy are both soon to be without jobs, each having lost their chair positions — and indeed their House seats — to Democrats in the mid-term elections. With Democrats slated to take over the House next week, Republicans quietly ended their investigation.
Republican chairmen Bob Goodlatte and Trey Gowdy sent a letter today announcing the end of their probe into the FBI, but also urging further investigation. More on what they say they uncovered here https://t.co/sHXicKuidz
— Jeremy Herb (@jeremyherb) December 28, 2018
However, in a letter to acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker and other top Justice Department officials, the men said that they hope the investigations will continue.
“The ramifications of decisions made and not made, the bias of some agents and attorneys involved, and the seemingly disparate treatment these investigations received have continued to reverberate into 2017, 2018, and potentially beyond.”
Whether or not that will happen remains unclear, but is unlikely, considering that Democrats are slated to take over the House and both committees responsible for the investigation.
What Did The Report Conclude?
According to the Chicago Tribune, the report concluded that there was bias within the Justice Department in its handling of both investigations. For example, the report concluded that former FBI Director James Comey was “too lenient” in interpreting the law when it came to Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, and expressed concern that “foreign agents” might have gotten a hold of some of the 2016 candidate’s emails. As for Trump, the report pointed to anti-Trump text messages between former FBI agents Lisa Page and Peter Strzok, both of whom are no longer with the FBI.
More Investigations
As one Congressional investigation wraps up, more are likely to begin once Democrats take over the House next week. Democrats have promised to look into the Flint water crisis, hurricane relief, and immigrant child separations, among other issues. Representative Elijah Cummings, who is expected to take over for Goodlatte as chair of the House Judiciary Committee, has already sent letters to various agencies saying that he expects their “full compliance” in the upcoming investigations.
