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| Justice Dept. Strongly Discouraged Comey on Move in Clinton Email Case | Justice Dept. Strongly Discouraged Comey on Move in Clinton Email Case |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| WASHINGTON — The day before the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, sent a letter to Congress announcing that new evidence had been discovered that may be related to the completed Hillary Clinton email investigation, the Justice Department strongly discouraged the step and told him that he would be breaking with longstanding policy, three law enforcement officials said on Saturday. | WASHINGTON — The day before the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, sent a letter to Congress announcing that new evidence had been discovered that may be related to the completed Hillary Clinton email investigation, the Justice Department strongly discouraged the step and told him that he would be breaking with longstanding policy, three law enforcement officials said on Saturday. |
| Senior Justice Department officials did not move to stop him from sending the letter, officials said, but they did everything short of it, pointing to policies against talking about current criminal investigations or being seen as meddling in elections. | Senior Justice Department officials did not move to stop him from sending the letter, officials said, but they did everything short of it, pointing to policies against talking about current criminal investigations or being seen as meddling in elections. |
| That Mr. Comey moved ahead despite those protestations underscores the unusual nature of Friday’s revelations, which added a dramatic twist to the final days of a presidential campaign. His action also reignited a firestorm that Mrs. Clinton believed she had put behind her when the F.B.I. decided in July not to charge anyone in the investigation into the handling of classified information on her private email server. Mr. Comey’s letter did not reopen that inquiry. | That Mr. Comey moved ahead despite those protestations underscores the unusual nature of Friday’s revelations, which added a dramatic twist to the final days of a presidential campaign. His action also reignited a firestorm that Mrs. Clinton believed she had put behind her when the F.B.I. decided in July not to charge anyone in the investigation into the handling of classified information on her private email server. Mr. Comey’s letter did not reopen that inquiry. |
| Senior Justice Department officials, career prosecutors and even some in the F.B.I. were at a loss Saturday as to what would happen next. Would Mr. Comey provide a blow-by-blow accounting of the F.B.I.’s steps until Election Day? Did he plan further announcements? Or did he intend, after shaking up the election with his letter, to remain silent about the facts until the presidential votes had been tallied? The F.B.I. offered no comment, and Justice Department officials said they had no idea what Mr. Comey saw as his next move. | Senior Justice Department officials, career prosecutors and even some in the F.B.I. were at a loss Saturday as to what would happen next. Would Mr. Comey provide a blow-by-blow accounting of the F.B.I.’s steps until Election Day? Did he plan further announcements? Or did he intend, after shaking up the election with his letter, to remain silent about the facts until the presidential votes had been tallied? The F.B.I. offered no comment, and Justice Department officials said they had no idea what Mr. Comey saw as his next move. |
| Justice Department officials were particularly puzzled about why Mr. Comey had alerted Congress — and by extension, the public — before agents even began reading the newly discovered emails to determine whether they contained classified information or added new facts to the case. | |
| Law enforcement officials have begun the process to get court authority to read the emails, officials said. How soon they will get that is unclear, but there is no chance that the review will be completed before Election Day, several law enforcement officials said. | |
| The letter to Congress — which followed the discovery of a new trove of emails in an investigation into the disgraced former congressman Anthony D. Weiner — opened Mr. Comey up to fierce criticism not only from Democrats but also from current and former officials at the F.B.I. and the Justice Department, including Republicans. | The letter to Congress — which followed the discovery of a new trove of emails in an investigation into the disgraced former congressman Anthony D. Weiner — opened Mr. Comey up to fierce criticism not only from Democrats but also from current and former officials at the F.B.I. and the Justice Department, including Republicans. |
| “There’s a longstanding policy of not doing anything that could influence an election,” said George J. Terwilliger III, a deputy attorney general under President George Bush. “Those guidelines exist for a reason. Sometimes, that makes for hard decisions. But bypassing them has consequences.” | “There’s a longstanding policy of not doing anything that could influence an election,” said George J. Terwilliger III, a deputy attorney general under President George Bush. “Those guidelines exist for a reason. Sometimes, that makes for hard decisions. But bypassing them has consequences.” |
| He added, “There’s a difference between being independent and flying solo.” | He added, “There’s a difference between being independent and flying solo.” |
| The letter is also the latest example of an at-times strained relationship between the Justice Department and Mr. Comey, who technically answers to the attorney general but who — on issues of race, encryption, policing and, most notably, the Clinton investigation — has branded himself as someone who operates outside Washington’s typical chain of command. | The letter is also the latest example of an at-times strained relationship between the Justice Department and Mr. Comey, who technically answers to the attorney general but who — on issues of race, encryption, policing and, most notably, the Clinton investigation — has branded himself as someone who operates outside Washington’s typical chain of command. |
| After hearing the Justice Department’s concerns, Mr. Comey concluded that the ramifications of not telling Congress promptly about the new emails far outweighed concerns about the department guidelines, one senior law enforcement official said. | After hearing the Justice Department’s concerns, Mr. Comey concluded that the ramifications of not telling Congress promptly about the new emails far outweighed concerns about the department guidelines, one senior law enforcement official said. |
| Under Justice Department policy, restated each election cycle, politics should play no role in any investigative decisions. In Democratic and Republican administrations, Justice Department officials have interpreted that policy broadly, to cover any steps that might give even an impression of partisanship. | Under Justice Department policy, restated each election cycle, politics should play no role in any investigative decisions. In Democratic and Republican administrations, Justice Department officials have interpreted that policy broadly, to cover any steps that might give even an impression of partisanship. |
| “We must be particularly sensitive to safeguarding the department’s reputation for fairness, neutrality and nonpartisanship,” the deputy attorney general, Sally Q. Yates, wrote in a memo this year offering the latest statement of the policy. | “We must be particularly sensitive to safeguarding the department’s reputation for fairness, neutrality and nonpartisanship,” the deputy attorney general, Sally Q. Yates, wrote in a memo this year offering the latest statement of the policy. |
| After reports surfaced late last month that Mr. Weiner had sent illicit text messages to a 15-year-old girl in North Carolina, top prosecutors in Charlotte and Manhattan jockeyed for the case. Senior officials in the Justice Department decided that if there were a prosecution, it would take place in New York under the supervision of the United States attorney there, Preet Bharara. | After reports surfaced late last month that Mr. Weiner had sent illicit text messages to a 15-year-old girl in North Carolina, top prosecutors in Charlotte and Manhattan jockeyed for the case. Senior officials in the Justice Department decided that if there were a prosecution, it would take place in New York under the supervision of the United States attorney there, Preet Bharara. |
| About the same time, agents in the F.B.I.’s New York field office understood that the Weiner investigation could possibly turn up additional emails related to Mrs. Clinton’s private server, according to a senior federal law enforcement official. Mr. Weiner’s estranged wife, Huma Abedin, is a top adviser to Mrs. Clinton. | About the same time, agents in the F.B.I.’s New York field office understood that the Weiner investigation could possibly turn up additional emails related to Mrs. Clinton’s private server, according to a senior federal law enforcement official. Mr. Weiner’s estranged wife, Huma Abedin, is a top adviser to Mrs. Clinton. |
| On Oct. 3, the F.B.I. seized several electronic devices, including a laptop, Mr. Weiner’s iPhone and an iPad that was in large measure used by his 4-year-old son to watch cartoons, a person with knowledge of the matter said. Days later, F.B.I. agents also confiscated a Wi-Fi router that could identify any other devices that had been used, the person said. | On Oct. 3, the F.B.I. seized several electronic devices, including a laptop, Mr. Weiner’s iPhone and an iPad that was in large measure used by his 4-year-old son to watch cartoons, a person with knowledge of the matter said. Days later, F.B.I. agents also confiscated a Wi-Fi router that could identify any other devices that had been used, the person said. |
| During the course of searching the seized devices, the F.B.I. discovered thousands of emails, according to senior law enforcement officials, some of them sent between Ms. Abedin and other Clinton aides. Agents and prosecutors in the Clinton investigation could not immediately read those emails without court authority, however. | |
| Many of the emails are expected to be duplicates of emails that have already been scrutinized in the Clinton case. The government has not yet concluded that the new emails contain classified information, but investigators felt obligated to look. | |
| On Friday, Mr. Comey sent the letter to Congress, which said emails had surfaced in a case unrelated to the Clinton case. Mr. Comey said that the F.B.I. would review the emails to determine if they improperly contained classified information, adding that the emails “appear to be pertinent.” | On Friday, Mr. Comey sent the letter to Congress, which said emails had surfaced in a case unrelated to the Clinton case. Mr. Comey said that the F.B.I. would review the emails to determine if they improperly contained classified information, adding that the emails “appear to be pertinent.” |
| Mr. Comey, who had faced mounting criticism in recent months from Republicans for not recommending that Mrs. Clinton or her aides be charged with a crime, immediately came under attack from Democrats. They charged that just 11 days before an election, he was unnecessarily inserting himself into politics. | Mr. Comey, who had faced mounting criticism in recent months from Republicans for not recommending that Mrs. Clinton or her aides be charged with a crime, immediately came under attack from Democrats. They charged that just 11 days before an election, he was unnecessarily inserting himself into politics. |