President Donald Trump told NBC News that he had the FBI’s Russia investigation on his mind when he made the decision to fire James Comey. | Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images Trump criticizes 'numerous delays' in release of IG report on Clinton's email use

President Donald Trump complained Tuesday that there have been “numerous delays” in the release of the Justice Department inspector general’s report on the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state, expressing concern that the report is being “made weaker.”

“What is taking so long with the Inspector General’s Report on Crooked Hillary and Slippery James Comey. Numerous delays,” the president wrote on Twitter. “Hope Report is not being changed and made weaker! There are so many horrible things to tell, the public has the right to know. Transparency!”


Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz told Congress last November that he expected his office to release its report on the bureau’s Clinton investigation and then-FBI Director James Comey’s handling of it “in late winter/early spring — hopefully in that March/April time period” of 2018, but the report has yet to be released.

Comey’s handling of the Clinton investigation, specifically his decision to hold a press conference in July, 2016, where he announced that the FBI would not recommend charges for the former secretary of state and laid out the reasons why, have come under significant scrutiny and was initially offered as the reason for the president’s decision to fire him last year. Trump later told NBC News that he had the FBI’s Russia investigation on his mind when he made the decision to fire Comey.

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The president has complained often about Comey's handling of the Clinton investigation, suggesting that the former secretary of state was treated gently by the Justice Department while his campaign is the subject of a much-watched probe led by special counsel Robert Mueller.