William Cummings

USA TODAY

Former New York mayor and top Donald Trump surrogate Rudy Giuliani denied knowing about new emails in the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton's private server before they became public after he seemed to say he "heard about it" ahead of time during an appearance on Fox and Friends.

"This has been boiling up in the FBI. I did nothing to get it out. I had no role in it," Giuliani said on the morning Fox News program. "Did I hear about it? Darn right I heard about it. I can't even repeat the language I heard from the former FBI agents."

The comment reinforced suspicion Giuliani received leaked information about the emails from within the bureau. The theory stemmed from Giuliani's cryptic statement that there was "a surprise or two that you're going to hear about in the next few days" on Fox News two days before Comey informed lawmakers of the new emails.

“I’m talking about some pretty big surprises,” he told Fox News’s Martha MacCallum on Oct. 26. "We've got a couple things up our sleeve that should turn this around."

(In this video Giuliani mentions the "surprises" at 2:20)



When asked what he was referring to during an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Friday, the former New York Mayor said he was speaking of a new ad campaign against Clinton.

As for his comment Friday morning that he had "heard about it," Giuliani said he was speaking of the divisions within the FBI and Justice Department over the decision not to prosecute Clinton.

“I've had no conversations with anyone inside the FBI," he said. "I was referring to the consternation in the FBI which The New York Times has reported on and The Wall Street Journal has reported on."

Clinton campaign press secretary Brian Fallon said Giuliani's comments were "grounds for an Inspector General review" in a tweet Friday.

Democratic Reps. Elijah Cummings and John Conyers, the ranking members of the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees, respectively, sent a letter to Inspector General Michael Horowitz to investigate leaks from the FBI about the Clinton case.

"This morning, Rudy Giuliani — one of Donald Trump's closest and most vocal campaign advisers — appeared on national television and confirmed that he had obtained leaked information about the FBI's review of Clinton-related emails several days before FBI Director Comey sent his letter to Congress," the letter begins.

Cummings and Conyers also referenced a report from Fox News anchor Bret Baier that an indictment was "likely" from an FBI investigation into the Clinton Foundation. Baier called the report a "mistake" Friday.

Fox News anchor apologizes for false report of 'likely' Clinton indictment

Giuliani insisted he's had no contact with any active FBI agents for eight to 10 months, and that what he knew of the frustration among some in the bureau was from media reports and former agents.

Blitzer pointed out Giuliani said he was in contact with "a few active agents, who obviously don't want to identify themselves" during an Oct. 28 radio interview.

"Well, the information I've been getting is from former FBI agents," Giuliani replied. "If I did say that, that was wrong."

Giuliani apologizes for false 9/11 claim about Clinton