Attorney General Loretta Lynch disagreed with FBI Director James Comey on how he handled his decision to reopen the investigation into classified information in Hillary Clinton’s emails, according to a report from the New Yorker on Saturday.
Lynch was in favor of maintaining the department’s policy of not commenting on ongoing investigations, according to an unnamed administration official, a policy which Comey skirted Friday when he sent a letter to eight lawmakers informing them of his decision to revisit the case.
“You don’t do this,” one former senior Justice Department official told the New Yorker. “It’s aberrational. It violates decades of practice.”
The reason being, the official added, “is because it impugns the integrity and reputation of the candidate, even though there’s no finding by a court, or in this instance even an indictment.”
The Justice Department did not immediately return a request for comment.
The Clinton campaign, including the candidate herself, has called on the FBI to release all “relevant facts” they have on the emails.
In an internal memo obtained by Fox News on Friday, Comey explained to staffers he chose to break with normal procedure because he felt “an obligation” to tell Congress because he recently testified that the investigation had ended and that he recommended no charges be brought against the former secretary of state.
