Press Releases

Washington, D.C. (Oct. 28, 2016) – Today, Reps. Elijah E. Cummings and John Conyers, Ranking Members of the House Committees on Oversight and Government Reform and Judiciary, sent the following letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch and FBI Director James Comey:

October 28, 2016

The Honorable Loretta E. Lynch                                The Honorable James Comey

Attorney General                                                        Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation

U.S. Department of Justice                                         U.S. Department of Justice

950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW                                   935 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington, D.C. 20530                                            Washington, D.C. 20530

 Dear Attorney General Lynch and Director Comey:

Today, Director Comey sent a letter to eight Congressional Committees after the FBI learned of the existence of emails that may be pertinent to its investigation of former Secretary Hillary Clinton’s personal email server. 

Although Director Comey’s letter was clear that none of the new material identified by the FBI may be “significant,” the letter provided such limited and vague information that it allowed rampant speculation, numerous leaks, and wild accusations just 11 days before the presidential election.

During Director Comey’s testimony before Congress on July 7, he made clear that the FBI was not treating Secretary Clinton differently from anyone else investigated by the FBI.  He explained that it would have been a double-standard to recommend prosecution based on the evidence the FBI had obtained.

In fairness to everyone involved, we are writing to request that the FBI and Department of Justice issue a more complete accounting of the details behind this letter, based on information from your career investigators and prosecutors, in order to debunk these conspiracy theories and correct the public record.

Sincerely,

Rep. Elijah E. Cummings                               Rep. John Conyers, Jr.

Ranking Member                                            Ranking Member

House Committee on Oversight and               House Committee on the Judiciary

  Government Reform

cc:        The Honorable Sally Yates, Deputy Attorney General

The Honorable Mary McCord, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for National Security

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

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