Comey planned Clinton's exoneration: Trump

Former FBI boss James Comey always planned to exonerate Hillary Clinton over her use of a personal email server, Donald Trump has tweeted.

President Donald Trump has revived his long-standing complaint about the FBI's handling of the Hillary Clinton email server investigation.

Trump, via Twitter, alleged on Wednesday that then-Director James Comey had protected the Democratic presidential nominee by prematurely "exonerating" her before the 2016 election.

"Comey stated under oath that he didn't do this - obviously a fix?" Trump wrote. "Where is Justice Dept?"

Trump's latest online burst came in response to the FBI's release of heavily blacked out draft statements from May 2016 by Comey in preparation for closing the Clinton investigation without criminal charges.

Trump tweeted that the draft statements, whose existence was previously known, show the FBI had exonerated "Crooked Hillary Clinton" long before the investigation was complete.

He tweeted: "James Comey lied and leaked and totally protected Hillary Clinton. He was the best thing that ever happened to her!"

In interview excerpts released in August by the Senate Judiciary Committee, FBI officials said Comey and investigators had determined by the spring of 2016 that charges weren't warranted, and had begun thinking of how the public should be informed of that decision.

Clinton was interviewed by the FBI in early July, just days before Comey announced the investigation's conclusion.

That timing has prompted criticism that FBI leadership had prejudged the conclusion before completing the investigation.

When Comey announced the end of the case last year, he said the FBI had found no evidence that anyone intended to violate laws governing classified materials, which it considered a prerequisite for bringing a case.

Trump, as both a candidate and now president, has long complained about the FBI's handling of the email case, though his criticism has varied.


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Source: AAP


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