Sen. Grassley asks Comey for more details on Clinton emails

A powerful Republican committee chairman pressed FBI director James Comey on Monday for more information about its latest probe of Hillary Clinton’s emails — arguing that the lack of details made public so far is unfair to the Democratic nominee.

It’s a notable remark from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who has been a relentless Republican investigator and critic of Clinton’s use of a private email server as secretary of state.


In a new, four-page letter, Grassley acknowledged the “difficult decision” Comey had in deciding whether to release the new information, particularly so close to an election, but argued that the FBI chief “failed to give … enough context to evaluate the significance or full meaning of this development.”

Grassley stressed that he supports Comey’s decision to disclose the new information. Rather, the details released were too few to gauge it fairly. The Clinton campaign is also urging Comey to release more information about the emails recently discovered by the FBI during a separate investigation.

“Without additional context, your disclosure is not fair to Congress, the American people, or Secretary Clinton,” Grassley wrote to Comey. "In the absence of additional, authoritative information from the FBI in the wake of your vague disclosure, Congress and the American people are left to sift through anonymous leaks from Justice Department officials to the press of varying levels of detail, reliability, and consistency. The American people deserve better than that.”

In the letter released Monday, Grassley listed 10, multi-part questions to the FBI involving the disclosures. The inquiries include whether any FBI officials have read the new emails, the time frame that the new messages cover, whether there is any information yet to suggest that the emails are duplicates of ones already reviewed by the FBI, and how the bureau learned of the existence of the newly discovered emails.

Grassley is also asking whether FBI requested a search warrant or the impaneling of a grand jury at any point during its investigation into Clinton’s email practices. He is seeking answers by Nov. 4.

Grassley’s Democratic counterpart on the Senate Judiciary Committee — Patrick Leahy of Vermont — and a handful of other top Senate Democrats have asked Comey for similar information.