The FBI declined to fully examine potentially critical evidence in its 2016 investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server, according to newly declassified documents released by Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley on Monday.

The materials — an appendix to a 2018 Justice Department inspector general report — reveal that the bureau received thumb drives from a confidential source containing State Department data obtained via cyber intrusions. The trove reportedly included emails from senior officials, including then-President Barack Obama. Yet despite an internal FBI memo urging a full review to assess possible national security risks, the bureau opted against a comprehensive analysis, citing concerns about the origin and scope of the data.

“This document shows an extreme lack of effort and due diligence,” Grassley (R-Iowa) said in a statement, accusing former FBI Director James Comey of leaving “key pieces of evidence on the cutting room floor.”

The appendix, authored by then-DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz, also reveals that the FBI Cyber Division had tried to access the hard drives to conduct targeted searches — but those requests were blocked due to concerns over the protection of privileged information. A memo from then-Deputy Director Andrew McCabe seeking to use the data in the bureau’s Russia probe was also denied.

The drives were queried at least three times, though the exact purpose of each search remains redacted. One search came from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team, and at least one yielded results linked to “clintonemail.com.”

The newly declassified documents also reference intelligence of questionable origin that suggested senior Obama administration officials, including then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Comey, interfered in the Clinton investigation to aid both Democratic and Republican candidates. The intelligence, which reportedly surfaced in Russian-language documents, also implicated then-DNC Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) and individuals affiliated with the Soros Open Society Foundations.

The source of the intelligence was believed to be a cyberattack on the Atlantic Council, and Comey ultimately dismissed the material as “verifiably false,” according to the report. Still, then-FBI counterintelligence official Peter Strzok ordered his team to run keyword searches through the documents before reaching that conclusion.

Comey later defended his decision not to consult Lynch before publicly announcing in July 2016 that the FBI would not recommend criminal charges against Clinton — a declaration made before interviews with several key witnesses in the case had even occurred.

The new disclosures add fuel to long-standing Republican criticisms of the FBI’s handling of the Clinton probe, particularly in contrast with its more aggressive approach in the subsequent Trump-Russia investigation.

Grassley, who has pressed for the appendix’s release since 2018, said in a statement that “Comey’s decision-making process smacks of political infection.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)