The New York Times editorial board declared Friday that the Justice Department inspector general report was a “dud,” since it found that none of the numerous examples of anti-Trump bias it discovered in the FBI affected the outcome of its investigation into Hillary Clinton.
“As political bombshells go, this one proved to be something of a dud,” the Times’ board wrote.
The Times admitted that the report found that several FBI officials did “breathtakingly stupid things,” but downplayed those findings.
Some of those “stupid things” include former FBI Director James Comey’s decision to make unilateral announcements about the Clinton email probe, and his choice to use his own private email while leading the agency.
The Times also noted that the IG found FBI agent Peter Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page showed signs of bias. But the Times said these findings are not the crisis that Trump’s allies want it to be.
“Horowitz’s report also confirms that mouthing off by a handful of officials did not add up to a secret plot against Mr. Trump,” it said of IG Michael Horowitz’s report.
The Times predicted that “none of Mr. Horowitz’s careful, nuanced assessments matter to the president and his defenders.”
It also accused Trump supporters of trying to use the report as a way to justify Trump’s decision to fire Comey, and delegitimize the FBI’s investigation into Trump’s alleged ties to Russia.
“This should surprise nobody,” the Times wrote.
