Last April, Nate Silver argued that it was “painfully obvious” that the media and James Comey had cost Hillary Clinton the election. It was Oct. 28th, just before the election, when then-FBI director Comey told Congress that he was reviewing additional emails found on Anthony Weiner’s laptop.
Comey, who had formerly been a hero to Clinton supporters for not recommending prosecution, suddenly became their worst enemy for dropping such a bomb so close to the election. But if the FBI had its way, would Comey have waited until after Nov. 8 to break the news?
The Washington Post asks those questions in a report Tuesday.
Breaking: Internal Justice Dept. probe examining why then-No. 2 FBI official Andrew McCabe apparently waited to act on Clinton emails https://t.co/8MSuPNGhPp
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 30, 2018
Devlin Barrett and Karoun Demirjian report:
The inspector general, Michael E. Horowitz, has been asking witnesses why FBI leadership seemed unwilling to move forward on the examination of emails found on the laptop of former congressman Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) until late October — about three weeks after first being alerted to the issue, according to these people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.
A key question of the internal investigation is whether [Andrew] McCabe or anyone else at the FBI wanted to avoid taking action on the laptop findings until after the Nov. 8 election, these people said. It is unclear whether the inspector general has reached any conclusions on that point.
McCabe, who either left or was forced out of the FBI Monday, is “a central figure in those inquiries,” they report.
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FBI agents discovered the emails in September — “But for a period of at least three weeks, according to people involved at the time, nothing much happened — a lag that has sparked the inspector general’s questions.”
Maybe this was the bit from the upcoming Inspector General’s report that inspired McCabe’s exit?
No matter what side you're on, the FBI's leadership heading into the twilight hours of the election had no fucking idea how to handle anything.
I'm really looking forward to the IG report, either way. https://t.co/x4NuhsMSht
— The Cyber (@r0wdy_) January 30, 2018
Either way, some people do not want to hear about Hillary’s emails ever again.
https://twitter.com/coryjosef/status/958449300387848192
We are never ever ever going to stop discussing 2016 and "but her emails!" https://t.co/IoAHEYHiyQ
— Geoffrey Sorensen (@GSorensen) January 30, 2018
but her emails https://t.co/BbINjW5sqz
— Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) January 30, 2018
https://twitter.com/ryanwithay/status/958449474556198912
https://twitter.com/SarahLerner/status/958452055760289792
If there *was* in improper delay, it hurt Hillary and helped Trump. So I want to hear no bullshit from the Right about this. https://t.co/m8auyRrtHW
— Cow ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️ (@CowGenocide) January 30, 2018
So McCabe acted "late" which achieved what? He effectively sank Hillary's campaign. So this seems like yet another nothingburger. https://t.co/OQsmhf6xBF
— Nate (@philly_nate) January 30, 2018
Maybe next time around the Democrats will nominate someone who isn’t under an FBI investigation … just sayin’.
https://twitter.com/NoahCRothman/status/958455188766982150
My thoughts exactly. Timing is everything. If Trump’s Access Hollywood tape and slew of harassment charges broke the last 10 days, he would have lost. Likewise, if this broke in September, the FBI letter clearing Hillary Clinton would’ve come out early enough to help her. https://t.co/LFPgvLQhUs
— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) January 30, 2018
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