WASHINGTON — Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, wrote to James Comey, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), on Friday following the announcement the FBI would examine newly discovered emails “pertinent to the investigation” into Secretary Hillary Clinton’s private email server. Johnson urged Director Comey to be as transparent as possible about the new emails, how the FBI learned of them, and the role of the Justice Department in the process.
“In line with your commitment to be transparent with Congress and the public, I respectfully request that the FBI provide as much information as possible about these new developments without harming the integrity of its ongoing investigation,” Johnson wrote in the letter. “In particular, there are important questions about the nature and source of these new emails, when and how the FBI learned of them, what investigative steps the FBI is taking to obtain these emails, and the role of the Justice Department in the process. Most importantly, if the FBI determines that any additional classified information has been put at risk of exposure to our enemies, it is vital that the intelligence community take all appropriate steps to mitigate the potential damage to our national security.”
The letter can be found here and below:
October 28, 2016
The Honorable James B. Comey
Director
Federal Bureau of Investigation
935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20535
Dear Director Comey:
On October 28, 2016, I received your letter supplementing your testimony to the Committee about the FBI’s investigation of former Secretary Clinton’s use of a private email server. In your letter, you stated that “the FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation.” Now that the FBI has become aware of these new emails, you noted that the FBI will take “appropriate investigative steps designed to allow investigators to review these emails to determine whether they contain classified information, as well as to assess their importance to [the FBI’s] investigation.”
You had previously stated in your testimony to Congress that “I wanted to be as transparent as possible.” In line with your commitment to be transparent with Congress and the public, I respectfully request that the FBI provide as much information as possible about these new developments without harming the integrity of its ongoing investigation. In particular, there are important questions about the nature and source of these new emails, when and how the FBI learned of them, what investigative steps the FBI is taking to obtain these emails, and the role of the Justice Department in the process. Most importantly, if the FBI determines that any additional classified information has been put at risk of exposure to our enemies, it is vital that the intelligence community take all appropriate steps to mitigate the potential damage to our national security.
My staff has informally requested more information from the FBI, which declined the request. Accordingly, in the interest of transparency, I ask that you make your staff available to brief my staff on these and other related questions as soon as possible, but no later than November 4, 2016. Thank you for your prompt attention to this important matter.
Sincerely,
Ron Johnson
Chairman
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