President Donald Trump jumped on Twitter early Friday morning to voice his disgust with a 500-page report the Justice Department’s inspector general issued Thursday about James Comey‘s handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton‘s emails.
Trump Blasts James Comey, FBI On Twitter
Trump called the report a “total disaster” for Comey, whom he fired in May 2017, and referred to Comey’s subordinates at the FBI as “minions.” The president then called on current FBI Director Christopher Wray to re-establish the bureau’s reputation.
Inspector general Michael Horowitz said in a statement Thursday that although Comey broke protocol and was insubordinate in his inquiry into Clinton’s use of a private email server, he was not politically biased in his decision to clear her. Trump took issue with two FBI agents in particular: Peter Strzok, who played a large role in the Clinton probe, and his romantic partner Lisa Page for exchanging a series of text messages during the 2016 election in which they heavily criticized Trump. One text revealed Page asked Strzok what would happen if Trump got elected, and Strzok said “we’ll stop it.”
The inspector general’s report, however, specified there was no evidence “to connect the political views expressed in these messages to the specific investigative decisions” that were said to be controversial.
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Horowitz also added that he was disturbed by the FBI’s month-long delay in acquiring a search warrant to examine emails potentially relevant to a probe of disgraced Democratic congressman Anthony Weiner‘s laptop in late 2016. Huma Abedin, Weiner’s ex-wife and a top aide to Clinton during the 2008 presidential election, also had her electronic devices searched for information.
For a brief time, Strzok worked for Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating potential Russian meddling during the 2016 election. Trump has repeatedly lambasted this probe, calling it a witch hunt.
Trump also went on Fox and Friends on Friday to blast Comey.
“I would never want to get involved in that,” Trump said. “Certainly he, they just seem like criminal acts to me. What he did was criminal.” He added: “What he did was so bad in terms of our Constitution, in terms of the well-being of our country. What he did was horrible.”
The president continued: “Should he be locked up? Let somebody make a determination.”
On Thursday, Comey wrote an opinion piece for the New York Times about the inspector general’s decision titled: “This Report Says I Was Wrong. But That’s Good for the FBI.”
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