There are so many investigations going on in Washington D.C., at this point it wouldn’t be surprising if an investigation was launched into an investigation that was originally put forth to investigate an initial investigation. It’s like the movie Inception, only without Leonardo DiCaprio or any of the cool special effects, and on Wednesday, House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Jason Chaffetz added to the pile by asking Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz to add a probe of the circumstances that led to the firing of ex-FBI Director James Comey onto the bureau’s current investigation into how the FBI handled events and information during the 2016 presidential election.
In a letter Chaffetz sent to Horowitz earlier this week, the chair asks that the DOJ take a closer look at what, if any, new information they can dig up pertaining to the sudden firing of the former FBI Director. Politico reports:
“I request that you expand the scope of your office’s ongoing review of allegations regarding certain actions by the Department of Justice and the FBI in advance of the 2016 election to include the facts and circumstances surrounding the removal of Director Comey,” Chaffetz wrote in a letter to Inspector General Michael Horowitz.
According to Politico, Chaffetz added in his letter to the DOJ that the reasoning behind his amendment to their investigation stems from new information contained in Trump’s letter informing Comey of his termination, in which Trump pointed to Comey’s “decision to publicize the results of the FBI’s investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,” as a partial reason for his termination. Some more:
“You separately stated ‘if circumstances warrant, the OIG will consider including other issues that may arise during the course of the review. The recommendation to remove Comey indeed warrants such consideration,”
The initial investigation into the FBI’s conduct began back in January when Chaffetz and his team asked the DOJ to look into how the bureau handled the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a personal server while handling confidential emails. Then, Chaffetz asked a review be made of Comey’s decision not to look further into the case, as well as the then-director’s choice to announce, just weeks before the presidential election, that he would be reopening the case.