By Ivan Pentchoukov |
The Department of Justice declined to prosecute a senior FBI official linked to the Clinton-email investigation, despite evidence that he or she leaked information from a sealed federal court filing in violation of federal law, according to an investigative summary released by the DOJ inspector general on May 29.
The inspector general discovered evidence that a deputy assistant director (DAD) at the FBI leaked sealed federal court information and sensitive law enforcement information to the media. The FBI official also had dozens of contacts with the media in violation of FBI policy, according to the findings.
The same official also violated federal statutes and FBI policy by accepting a ticket valued at $225 to a media-sponsored dinner as a gift from a member of the media, the inspector general determined.
The inspector general’s single-page summary noted that “a preponderance of evidence” was found to establish each charge.
“Prosecution of the DAD was declined,” according to the watchdogs statement. The name of the DAD isn’t provided in the document. Fired FBI official Peter Strzok held the DAD title when he was the lead agent on the Clinton-email investigation.
According to text messages between Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page (with whom he was having an affair), on Oct. 24 to 28, 2016, Page was communicating with Wall Street Journal reporter Devlin Barrett.
Barrett went on to publish an article on Oct. 30, 2016, which triggered a leak investigation by the FBI which was handed off to the DOJ inspector general. That leak investigation determined that then-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe authorized Page to leak to Barrett.
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