AND NOW...THE REPORT – AT 7:31 P.M. ET:  So the Justice Department's inspector-general, Michael Horowitz, released his report today (https://oig.justice.gov/reports/all.htm) detailing FBI behavior before the election.  It's pretty damning.  Activity by Director Jamey Comey and some subordinates might not have been illegal, but the IG concluded some of it was improper, as was some behavior by Attorney General Loretta Lynch.  From Fox: 

The Justice Department inspector general has referred five FBI employees for investigation in connection with politically charged texts, revealing in its report on the Hillary Clinton email case that more bureau officials than previously thought were exchanging anti-Trump messages.

The long-awaited report largely dealt with the Justice Department and FBI's handling of the Clinton case but uncovered numerous messages that “appeared to mix political opinion with discussions about the MYE investigation."

MYE, or "Midyear Exam," was the code used in the FBI to refer to the investigation into Clinton’s private email server.

“Some of these text messages and instant messages mixed political commentary with discussions about the Midyear investigation, and raised concerns that political bias may have impacted investigative decisions,” the report read.

The report noted that it was specifically concerned about text messages exchanged between FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page that “potentially indicated or created the appearance that investigative decisions were impacted by bias or improper considerations.”

Strzok and Page, who were romantically involved, both served for a short period of time on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation team. Strzok was reassigned following the revelations of his anti-Trump texts. Page resigned last month.

But while many of those texts were made public in late 2017, the IG report revealed a new one in which Strzok vowed to "stop" Trump from becoming president -- and made clear that as many as five total FBI employees exchanged politically charged messages. "The text messages and instant messages sent by these employees included statements of hostility toward then candidate Trump and statements of support for candidate Clinton," the report said.

And, from Fox: 

Horowitz also charged that (then Attorney General Loretta) Lynch similarly made multiple errors in judgment during the probe.

The DOJ watchdog was especially critical not just of Lynch's decision to hold court with the president (former President Clinton) on the Phoenix tarmac, but also her decision to retain involvement in the probe despite the appearance of bias.

"Although we found no evidence that Lynch and former President Clinton discussed the Midyear investigation or engaged in other inappropriate discussion during their tarmac meeting on June 27, 2016, we also found that Lynch’s failure to recognize the appearance problem created by former President Clinton’s visit and to take action to cut the visit short was an error in judgment," the IG wrote.

And...

But the IG's most substantial criticisms of Comey centered around his decision to stage a dramatic press conference in the summer of 2016, in which he announced that "no reasonable prosecutor" would bring criminal charges against Hillary Clinton, even as he acknowledged she had been "extremely careless" in her handling of classified information."

"Comey’s unilateral announcement was inconsistent with Department policy, usurped the authority of Attorney General, and did not accurately describe the legal position of the Department prosecutors," the IG report said.

The ex-FBI director made a similarly "serious error in judgment" by sending a letter to Congress announcing the reopening of the Clinton probe just days before the 2016 presidential election, according to the report.

"We found that it was extraordinary and insubordinate for Comey to conceal his intentions from his superiors, the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General, for the admitted purpose of preventing them from telling him not to make the statement, and to instruct his subordinates in the FBI to do the same."

COMMENT:  That's the gist of it, but there are hundreds of pages to the report, and more will come out in the next few days.   My sense is that the report damages the image of the FBI, and that corrective action is needed.  It certainly substantiates the charge that some in the FBI hierarchy were substantially biased against President Trump during the campaign.

However, it is too much of a stretch to suggest that the activity of some FBI personnel, and some of the antics of Attorney General Lynch, actually influenced voters.  That will require further study and maybe some creative polling.

The best comment I heard today was by Bret Baier of Fox, who noted that we're becoming exhausted by all the investigations.  We are, and I think these probes are having less and less impact on the way Americans see events.

June 14, 2018