POOL
Washington, DC - 19 June 2018
1. Wide of House lawmakers on dais at hearing
2. Mid of Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz at witness table
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Trey Gowdy, (R) South Carolina
"There were FBI agents and attorneys who decided to prejudge the outcome of the Hillary Clinton case before the investigation ended. I want you let that sink in for a second. They prejudged the outcome of the Hillary Clinton investigation before the investigation ended, and these exact same FBI agents and attorneys prejudged the outcome of the Russian investigation before it even began."
4. Mid of lawmakers on dais
5. Mid of Horowitz at witness table
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Jerry Nadler, (D) New York
"Why is it that after the Department of Justice and the FBI concluded they should not charge Secretary Clinton with a crime, rather than accepting the conclusion as we would in most criminal cases, the judiciary and oversight majorities launched an investigation into the Department of Justice and the FBI? Why is it that after you released this report, Mr. Horowitz, some of my colleagues seriously suggested that we open an investigation into your investigation, of the investigation?"
7. Mid of lawmakers on dais
8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. Bob Goodlatte, (R) Virginia
"The IG's report has spawned more questions and more theories about the FBI and DOJ's handling of the Clinton investigation. It confirms that Mrs. Clinton did in fact receive special treatment from the Obama Justice Department and FBI during their investigation."
9. Mid of Horowitz at witness table
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Elijah Cummings, (D) Maryland:
"The Republicans point to some individual expressions of bias, and these are facts the inspector general already revealed. Instead the Republicans are now tripling down threatening to impeach Rod Rosenstein and Christopher Wray for somehow obstructing their efforts to get to the bottom of all of this."
11. Wide of lawmakers on dais
House Democrats and Republicans battled over the recently released Justice Department's IG report on the FBI and the 2016 election during a Capitol Hill hearing Tuesday.
The report, authored by Michael Horowitz, blasted FBI actions during the 2016 investigation into whether Clinton, the Democratic presidential candidate, had mishandled classified information on her private email server when she was secretary of state.
Republicans have become increasingly skeptical of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into potential coordination between Russia and Trump's Republican presidential campaign.
They've been saying they're not convinced by the report's conclusion that the decision to spare Clinton from criminal charges was free from bias, or by reassurances that the problems were limited to just a handful of employees
"There were FBI agents and attorneys who decided to prejudge the outcome of the Hillary Clinton case before the investigation ended. I want you let that sink in for a second," said Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina.
"The IG's report has spawned more questions and more theories about the FBI and DOJ's handling of the Clinton investigation," said Republican colleague Bob Goodlatte of Virginia.
"It confirms that Mrs Clinton did in fact receive special treatment from the Obama Justice Department and FBI during their investigation," Goodlatte said.
Democrats, however, battled back.
"Why is it that after you released this report, Mr. Horowitz, some of my colleagues seriously suggested that we opened an investigation into your investigation, of the investigation?" said Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler.
"The Republicans are now tripling down threatening to impeach Rod Rosenstein and Christopher Wray for somehow obstructing their efforts to get to the bottom of all of this," added Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland.
Monday, Horowitz appeared with FBI Director Christoper Wray before a senate panel.
Wray said that the FBI is determined to not repeat any of the mistakes identified in the watchdog report.
Days earlier, President Donald Trump asserted the report exonerated him.
"There was no collusion. There was no obstruction," the president told reporters. "And I think that the Mueller investigation has been totally discredited."
Although the report criticized former FBI Director James Comey for multiple decisions that investigators said broke from protocol. But the inspector general said it found no evidence that political bias affected the outcome of the investigation.
And the report focused only on the FBI's actions during the 2016 election, not the Mueller investigation.
