Top Senate Democrats want the FBI to turn over more details on its review of emails related to Hillary Clinton by Monday, arguing a letter released Friday is spreading misinformation.
Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), Tom Carper (Del.), Patrick Leahy (Vt.) and Ben Cardin (Md.) sent a letter Saturday to Attorney General Loretta Lynch and FBI Director James Comey, arguing they need to move quickly to clarify Comey’s three-paragraph letter.
{mosads}”We strongly believe that it is incumbent on the FBI and the Department of Justice to act without delay to dispel any misleading impression about the emails that have been newly identified, as well as their importance—or lack thereof—to the previous investigation involving Secretary Clinton,” the four Democrats wrote.
The senators are giving the Obama administration roughly two days to outline what steps it’s taken on an investigation, how many emails are involved and what the FBI is doing to determine if and how many of the emails are duplicates from its previous probe.
They added that with less than two weeks until the election, “the American people deserve to know that the FBI and the Department of Justice are working around the clock to determine the basic facts about the emails in question.”
The letter comes after Comey sent a shockwave through the political world on Friday when he sent a letter to Congress notifying lawmakers that the agency was reviewing new emails “pertinent” to its investigation into Clinton’s private email server from her time as secretary of State.
Comey warned at the time that the FBI “cannot yet assess whether or not this material may be significant” and refused to describe how long the additional work might take.
But the four senators — who are the top Democrats on the Intelligence, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Judiciary, and Foreign Relations committees — called Comey’s decision “troubling” because it was “vaguely worded and leaves so many questions unanswered.”
“This letter is also troubling because it breaks with the longstanding tradition of Department of Justice and the FBI to exercise extreme caution in the days leading up the election,” they wrote.
The decision to send the letter to Congress went against the advice of the Department of Justice, and Comey warned in a separate note to FBI employees that he was concerned his decision might be misunderstood.
The Democrat senators argued that is exactly what’s happened since Friday, saying the letter is “already being used for political purposes.”
Reps. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and John Conyers (D-Mich.) are also requesting more details, while Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) have requested briefings.