Anon review of OIG Report pp.81-100 14June2018 (continued)
p.95-96
Obama WH Statement about Investigation
An Obama CBS 60 Minutes interview aired 10/11/15. President Obama called Clinton’s use of a private email server a “mistake,” but not a "national security problem”, “not a situation in which America’s national security was endangered.” Obama implied the issue had been “ginned up” (i.e. was politically motived and a non-issue).
Obama's statement concerned FBI officials: it might impact the investigation.
Michael Steinbach, former EAD–National Security Branch, told OIG that Obama's comments generated “controversy” within the FBI, stating: “[Obama] prejudging investigation results before they really even have been started… hugely problematic for us.”
Toscas: No effect on our work and independent judgment
"Prosecutor 4" [redaction?] said FBI began to harbor suspicions that the Exec Branch was politically biased.
p.96
Lynch denied ever speaking to Obama about any case or investigation; nor did Obama speak about it to her, she said.
Lynch didn't think Obama should have made the statement on 60 Minutes. "Because, to me, anyone looking at this case would have seen a national security component to it."
Obama's press secretary Josh Earnest at 1/29/16 press conference in reply to 'Did he think Clinton would be indicted', said,
"That will be a decision that is made by the Department of Justice and
prosecutors over there. What I know that some officials over there
have said is that she is not a target of the investigation. So that does
not seem to be the direction that it’s trending, but I’m certainly not
going to weigh in on a decision or in that process in any way. That is
a decision to be made solely by independent prosecutors. But, again,
based on what we know from the Department of Justice, it does not
seem to be headed in that direction.
Obama's Director of DoJ Public Affairs, Melanie Newman, forwarded Earnest's comments to Axelrod + Lynch + 3 seeking clarification that the WH "have no insight into this investigation". Newman: WH staff was "very, very, very careful about engaging with
us on that topic.”
Axelrod: Earnest’s comments seemed to imply the WH had received a briefing on the Midyear investigation; he said “never happened.”
Lynch's Chief of Staff (unnamed in OIG report) said DoJ officials "very upset" about Earnest stmts: “As far as we knew, no one at Department of Justice had spoken to anyone in the White House about it.” Spoke to WH Counsel, said DoJ did not know where Earnest got his info. Thinks Lynch would have been very upset at any implication of impropriety.
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to be continued