Former GOP Rep. Jason Chaffetz said Friday that it is absurd for the FBI to withhold documents related to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton due to a lack of public interest, blaming the delay on “the deep state.”

“This is where you look at the deep state. And it comes right on the heels of a determination by the records division of the FBI saying we aren’t going to release this information because there’s a lack of public interest,” Chaffetz told “Fox and Friends.” “Are you kidding me? There were congressional subpoenas, there were congressional inquires, freedom of information act requests. None of this information given to the congressional investigators, but hats off to Senator Grassley and Lindsey Graham for going and getting this stuff.”

New York attorney Ty Clevenger had made a request to the FBI records division for documents related to Clinton, but the Bureau wrote back denying his request, stating that it wasn’t in the “public’s interest” to disclose it.

“You have not sufficiently demonstrated that the public’s interest in disclosure outweighs personal privacy interests of the subject,” the letter read. “Therefore, records regarding your subject are withheld pursuant to FOIA exemptions.”

The letter came as reports surfaced alleging that former FBI Director James Comey had already drafted an exoneration letter for Clinton before investigators even interviewed her.

You can Follow Nick on Twitter and Facebook

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.