{"id":2464733,"date":"2025-07-21T13:49:01","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T17:49:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fbi-ignored-key-evidence-in-clinton-email-investigation-doj-watchdog-reveals-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2025-07-21T13:50:02","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T17:50:02","slug":"fbi-ignored-key-evidence-in-clinton-email-investigation-doj-watchdog-reveals-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fbi-ignored-key-evidence-in-clinton-email-investigation-doj-watchdog-reveals-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"FBI ignored key evidence in Clinton email investigation, DOJ watchdog reveals &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffbi-ignored-key-evidence-in-clinton-email-investigation-doj-watchdog-reveals-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2464733&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/u-s-spy-chief-report-warns-tech-devices-giving-intel-community-unfettered-access-to-americans-personal-info\/\" title=\"US Spy Chief ...: Tech Devices Grant Intel Community Unrestricted Access to Americans&#039; Personal Data\">newly declassified report<\/a> by the Justice Department&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/defense-dept-biden-brought-unvetted-afghans-to-u-s-many-flagged-with-security-concerns-cannot-be-located\/\" title=\"Defense Dept: Biden Brought Unvetted Afghans to U.S., Many Flagged with &#039;Security Concerns&#039; Cannot Be Located\">inspector general reveals<\/a> that the FBI, during its 2016 investigation into Hillary Clinton&#8217;s use of a private email server, failed to fully examine several thumb drives containing hacked state Department data, including messages linked to then-President Barack Obama. Despite recommendations to analyse these devices to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-energy-committee-republicans-seek-review-of-fords-agreement-with-chinese-battery-maker\/\" title=\"House Energy Committee Republicans want to ... Ford&#039;s agreement with a Chinese battery maker.\">assess national security risks<\/a>, the FBI declined to do so, citing concerns about sensitive victim data. Senator Chuck Grassley criticized the FBI for its lack of effort and due diligence in the Clinton investigation, contrasting it with the bureau&#8217;s vigorous investigation into alleged Trump-Russia collusion. The report also highlights internal FBI attempts to review the drives that were blocked, and notes that <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >foreign intelligence documents alleging political interference<\/a> were reviewed but dismissed as unreliable. The revelations have renewed scrutiny on former FBI Director James Comey, whose approach to the Clinton probe was seen as limited and controversial, especially given his early public exoneration of Clinton before key witness interviews. The FBI, under the current Trump administration, is also investigating Comey and former CIA Director John Brennan for their roles in the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">FBI ignored key evidence in Clinton email investigation, DOJ watchdog reveals<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2177140\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>The FBI under former President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/barack-obama\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Barack Obama<\/a> failed to examine fully several thumb drives containing hacked State Department data, including messages linked to Obama, during its 2016 investigation of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/hillary-clinton\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Hillary Clinton<\/a>&rsquo;s use of a private email server, according to a newly declassified watchdog report released Monday.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This document shows an extreme lack of effort and due diligence in the FBI&rsquo;s investigation of former Secretary Clinton&rsquo;s email usage and mishandling of highly classified information,&rdquo;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/chuck-grassley\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sen. Chuck Grassley<\/a>&nbsp;(R-IA) told the&nbsp;<em>Washington Examiner<\/em>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3477111\/doj-agrees-keep-abrego-garcia-in-custody-30-days\/\">DOJ agrees to keep Abrego Garcia in custody for at least 30 days<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3476873\/dershowitz-no-revelations-coming-epstein-grand-jury-transcripts\/\">Dershowitz signals no revelations coming in Epstein grand jury records<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/in_focus\/3476095\/lawyers-embrace-ai-tools-lack-rules-courts\/\">Lawyers embrace AI tools amid lack of uniform rules in courts<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>The thumb drives, supplied by a confidential source, were deemed too sensitive to be reviewed fully at the time due to concerns about the privileged victim data they could contain. But a draft memo from within the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/fbi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">FBI<\/a>&nbsp;recommended analyzing the material to &ldquo;assess the national security risks&rdquo; tied to Clinton&rsquo;s private server, a step the bureau ultimately declined to take.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An excerpt from the Justice Department&rsquo;s Office of Inspector General &lsquo;Clinton annex&rsquo; shows the FBI obtained thumb drives from a source during the Clinton investigation, but failed to perform additional searches of the drives.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The new details are in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grassley.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/horowitz_2018_midyear_appendix_released_by_chairman_grassley.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">declassified appendix to a 2018 report<\/a> by former&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/justice-department\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Justice Department<\/a>&nbsp;Inspector General Michael Horowitz. Grassley, the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/senate-judiciary-committee\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Senate Judiciary Committee<\/a>&nbsp;chairman, released the document on Monday after receiving it from&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/pam-bondi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Attorney General Pam Bondi<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/kash-patel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">FBI Director Kash Patel<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The revelations have renewed scrutiny of former FBI Director&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/james-comey\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">James Comey<\/a>, whose team limited the scope of the Clinton investigation while aggressively pursuing allegations of collusion by then-candidate Donald Trump and Russia.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The Comey FBI&rsquo;s negligent approach and perhaps intentional lack of effort in the Clinton investigation is a stark contrast to its full-throated investigation of the Trump-Russia collusion hoax,&rdquo; Grassley said.<\/p>\n<p>The report shows that the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/fbi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">FBI Cyber Division<\/a>&nbsp;had tried to obtain access to the thumb drives in 2016, but internal objections over privilege concerns blocked the effort. Then-Deputy Director&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/andrew-mccabe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Andrew McCabe<\/a>&nbsp;also sought to use the drives in the Russia investigation but was similarly denied.<\/p>\n<p>Although the drives were queried at least three times, including once by then-special counsel&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/robert-mueller\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Robert Mueller<\/a>&rsquo;s office, there was no comprehensive review of their contents. One search yielded results associated with &ldquo;clintonemail.com,&rdquo; but the rest of the details were redacted.<\/p>\n<p>The appendix also highlighted foreign intelligence the FBI encountered during the investigation, including Russian-language documents that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/irs-whistleblowers-lawyers-meet-with-congressional-investigators-over-hunter-biden-tax-probe\/\" title=\"Lawyers representing the IRS whistleblower meet with Congress investigators regarding Hunter Biden&#039;s tax investigation.\">alleged political interference<\/a> by Comey and then-Attorney General&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/loretta-lynch\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Loretta Lynch<\/a>. The documents, which included claims about&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/debbie-wasserman-schultz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Debbie Wasserman Schultz<\/a>&nbsp;and George Soros-linked operatives, were reviewed and dismissed as unreliable, according to FBI agents cited in the watchdog report.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3466220\/james-comey-john-brennan-under-investigation-doj-trump-russia-probe\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"JAMES COMEY AND JOHN BRENNAN UNDER INVESTIGATION BY DOJ FOR TRUMP-RUSSIA INQUIRY\">JAMES COMEY AND JOHN BRENNAN UNDER INVESTIGATION BY DOJ FOR TRUMP-RUSSIA INQUIRY<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Comey defended his July 5, 2016, decision to exonerate Clinton publicly before interviewing several key witnesses, citing concerns about internal leaks. His decision, made without notifying Lynch, has remained a point of controversy &mdash; particularly because the FBI soon launched its Crossfire Hurricane investigation targeting Trump&rsquo;s 2016 campaign.<\/p>\n<p>The revelation also comes as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/fbi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">FBI<\/a>, under the current <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/trump-administration\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Trump administration<\/a>, is actively investigating Comey and ex-<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/john-brennan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">CIA Director John Brennan<\/a> over their roles in the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation and possible misconduct tied to intelligence handling.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2177140\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2177140\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>FBI overlooked crucial evidence in Clinton email probe, DOJ report shows<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2633,"featured_media":2464734,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Hillary-Clinton_DNC_Chicago_l2.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[59570,59571,50645,59572,32076],"class_list":["post-2464733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-clinton-email-investigation","tag-doj-watchdog","tag-fbi-2","tag-key-evidence","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Hillary-Clinton_DNC_Chicago_l2.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2464733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2633"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2464733"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2464733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2464737,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2464733\/revisions\/2464737"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2464734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2464733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2464733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2464733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}