Press Releases

Washington, D.C. (Nov. 4, 2016)—Today, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings and Rep. John Conyers, Jr., the Ranking Members of the House Committees on Oversight and Government Reform and Judiciary, sent a letter calling on the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Justice to conduct an immediate investigation to determine the source of multiple unauthorized—and often inaccurate—leaks from within the FBI to benefit the presidential campaign of Donald Trump. The full letter is set forth below.

November 4, 2016

The Honorable Michael E. Horowitz

Inspector General

U.S. Department of Justice

950 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W., Suite 4706

Washington, D.C.  20530-0001

Dear Mr. Horowitz:

This morning, Rudy Giuliani—one of Donald Trump’s closest and most vocal campaign advisers—appeared on national television and confirmed that he had obtained leaked information about the FBI’s review of Clinton-related emails several days before FBI Director James Comey sent his letter to Congress last Friday about this matter.

In fact, Mr. Giuliani went even further and bragged about the information he had obtained, stating:  “Did I hear about it?  You’re darn right I heard about it.”

Already, Director Comey’s letter from last Friday had broken with longstanding precedent by confirming publicly that the FBI was in the process of taking investigative steps relating to newly-discovered emails, despite the fact that Director Comey had not yet even seen these emails or determined whether they were “significant.”

It is absolutely unacceptable for the FBI to leak unsubstantiated—and in some cases false—information about one presidential candidate to benefit the other candidate.  Leaking this information to former FBI officials as a conduit to the Trump campaign is equally intolerable.

For example, on Wednesday, Fox News anchor Bret Baier claimed on national television—based on multiple leaks—that the FBI was “actively and aggressively” investigating the Clinton Foundation and that an indictment was “likely.”  This morning, however, Mr. Baier was forced to correct his report, admitting that it was “a mistake.”

These unauthorized and inaccurate leaks from within the FBI, particularly so close to a presidential election, are unprecedented.  For these reasons, we are calling on your office to conduct a thorough investigation to identify the sources of these and other leaks from the FBI and to recommend appropriate action.

Thank you for your consideration of this request.

Sincerely,

Elijah E. Cummings                                                    John Conyers, Jr.

Ranking Member                                                        Ranking Member

            House Committee on Oversight and                          House Committee on the Judiciary

  Government Reform

cc:        The Honorable Loretta Lynch, Attorney General of the United States

            The Honorable James Comey, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation

            The Honorable Jason Chaffetz, Chairman, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

            The Honorable Bob Goodlatte, Chairman, House Committee on the Judiciary