Ethics watchdog sues FBI over leak to Giuliani

A government and ethics watchdog group on Monday sued the FBI for allegedly failing to fulfill a records request pertaining to a leak to President Trump’s personal lawyer and longtime backer Rudy Giuliani.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) said in its announcement of the lawsuit that information was leaked to Giuliani in October 2016, during the final weeks of the presidential campaign, giving the former New York mayor a tip that then-FBI Director James Comey was going to reopen the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while she served as secretary of State.

Giuliani admitted to receiving a leak on the investigation, saying on Fox News, “Did I hear about it? You’re darn right I heard about it. And I can’t even repeat the language that I heard.”

{mosads}Giuliani also teased “a surprise or two” in the days leading up to the 2016 presidential election, prompting the FBI to question him on the claims.

CREW has requested records relating to the FBI’s investigation into how Giuliani got advance notice of Comey’s investigations, but the FBI has yet to fulfill CREW’s request.

“The FBI legally has to give us these records or explain why they cannot,” CREW Executive Director Noah Bookbinder said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. “It is important for the public to have all of the information that the law requires be made available.”

Giuliani was a top campaign surrogate for Trump during the 2016 campaign and now serves as his personal attorney, representing the president in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Clinton has blamed the announcement of the FBI’s reopened probe into her “home brew” server for her loss to Trump.