FBI Director James Comey apparently began drafting his statement about Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonJeff Flake: Republicans 'should hold the same position' on SCOTUS vacancy as 2016 Momentum growing among Republicans for Supreme Court vote before Election Day Warning signs flash for Lindsey Graham in South Carolina MORE's use of a private email server months before his July 2016 announcement that the FBI would not recommend charges, according to a document posted by the FBI Monday.

The only visible content in the posted document is an unclassified email from FBI official James Rybicki, who asks officials in mid-May to "please send any comments on this statement so we may roll it into a master doc for discussion with the Director at a future date."

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Rybicki's email forwarded a redacted email from the FBI chief on May 16, 2016 with the subject line "Midyear Exam." The Comey email he forwarded was dated May 2, 2016.

Newsweek first highlighted the document's release on Monday.

Comey, however, would not publicly make his recommendation to not press charges against Clinton until July 2016. In his public statement, though, he also sharply criticized the then-Democratic presidential candidate and her colleagues for being "extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information."

The latest document will likely spark questions about why Comey waited months after beginning to draft a statement to announce the end of the investigation during a heated presidential race.

President Trump fired Comey earlier this year, citing his handling of the Clinton probe. But special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating whether Trump fired Comey to obstruct justice in the Russia probes, which the then-FBI chief was in charge of.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley Charles (Chuck) Ernest GrassleySenate Republicans face tough decision on replacing Ginsburg What Senate Republicans have said about election-year Supreme Court vacancies Biden says Ginsburg successor should be picked by candidate who wins on Nov. 3 MORE (R-Iowa) and Sen. Lindsey Graham Lindsey Olin GrahamMomentum growing among Republicans for Supreme Court vote before Election Day Video of Lindsey Graham arguing against nominating a Supreme Court justice in an election year goes viral Warning signs flash for Lindsey Graham in South Carolina MORE (R-S.C.) first announced in late August that Comey had drafted a statement on Clinton months before making a public statement, citing FBI aides the panel interviewed.

The Republican senators said Comey had written the draft statement months before the "Clinton email investigation before the FBI had interviewed key witnesses."