Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is back in the spotlight after newly declassified documents suggest the FBI failed to properly investigate her use of a private email server and the possible mishandling of classified materials during her tenure in the Obama administration.
The files—released as an appendix to a June 2018 Justice Department Inspector General report—claim the FBI received thumb drives containing sensitive government data, including emails from then-President Barack Obama. However, the Bureau allegedly made little effort to examine the contents.
U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley sharply criticized the agency’s handling of the case. “This document shows an extreme lack of effort and due diligence in the FBI’s investigation of former Secretary Clinton’s email usage and mishandling of highly classified information,” he said in a statement.
Grassley noted that the thumb drives included data stolen through cyber intrusions, involving communications from the State Department, Congress, and the White House. Despite the drives’ potential relevance, FBI officials—including then-Director James Comey, Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, and Agent Peter Strzok—allegedly ignored recommendations to perform deeper, targeted searches.
According to reports, the FBI’s Cyber Division attempted to gain access to the drives during the 2016 presidential campaign but was blocked. McCabe later asked Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates for permission to use the drives in the FBI’s Russia investigation, but that request was also denied due to concerns over scope and privilege protections.
The Clinton email controversy first emerged in 2015, when The New York Times revealed that Clinton had used a private server at her New York residence for official and personal communications during her time at the State Department from 2009 to 2013. Critics argued the system could have violated federal recordkeeping laws and posed national security risks.
While the FBI ultimately concluded in 2016 that Clinton’s server contained no documents “clearly marked” as classified and recommended no criminal charges, the newly disclosed annex raises fresh questions about whether the investigation was as thorough as publicly claimed.
The report was written by then-DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz, who now serves in oversight roles at the Federal Reserve Board and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. It remains unclear whether the FBI has since conducted a more comprehensive review of the evidence on the drives.
