Inspector General Report On Clinton Email Probe About To Drop, Now In Final Review

A long-awaited report by the Department of Justice's internal watchdog has moved into its final phase - after the DOJ notified multiple subjects mentioned in the document that they can privately review it by week's end, and will have a "few days" to craft any response to criticism contained within the report, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Those invited to review the report were told they would have to sign nondisclosure agreements in order to read it, people familiar with the matter said. They are expected to have a few days to craft a response to any criticism in the report, which will then be incorporated in the final version to be released in coming weeks. -WSJ

Inspector General Michael Horowitz told lawmakers in April that he expected to issue the report in May, however Tuesday's notification indicates that he has largely completed his inquiry.

Congressional investigators will get their hands on the report in coming weeks.

A related report was released in April detailing the DOJ's case against former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who was found to have lied four times to the DOJ and FBI, including twice while under oath.

McCabe, who was fired a day before he was set to collect his full pension, authorized a self-serving leak to the Wall St. Journal claiming that the FBI had not put the brakes on the Clinton Foundation investigation, during a period in which he was coming under fire over a $467,500 campaign donation his wife Jill took from Clinton pal Terry McAuliffe.

To be clear, this report will have nothing to do with the FBI's alleged FISA abuse, high-level collusion against the Trump campaign, or the genesis of the counterintelligence investigation against then-candidate Donald Trump. The OIG will be covering those issues as part of aseparate investigation announced in late March.

The report on the Clinton email investigation will, however, cover the conduct of FBI "lovebirds" Peter Strzok and Lisa Page. Strzok notably spearheaded the Clinton email investigation before also handling the early Trump-Russia investigation.

Horowitz's report will undoubtedly also cover significant edits made by the FBI's top brass to Hillary Clinton's exoneration statement - effectively decriminalizing her mishandling of classified information so that she wouldn't be prosecuted by the DOJ.

Who is Michael Horowitz?

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