If you thought FBI Director James Comey’s decision to re-open the Clinton email investigation a mere 10 days before the election was odd, hang on to your hats, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
According to a Think Progress report, the FBI has launched an internal investigation into, um, itself. The investigation stems from a dormant FBI Twitter account that sprang to life over the weekend. On October 30, @FBIRecordsValut began by posting info on Donald Trump’s father, Fred, before posting files from a case closed in 2005 about former President Bill Clinton’s pardon of Marc Rich.
Fred C. Trump: Fred C. Trump (1905-1999) was a real estate developer and philanthropist. This release consists of… https://t.co/21KgtPpmzk
— FBI Records Vault (@FBIRecordsVault) October 30, 2016
William J. Clinton Foundation: This initial release consists of material from the FBI's files related to the Will… https://t.co/Y4nz3aRSmG
— FBI Records Vault (@FBIRecordsVault) November 1, 2016
As you may have guessed, it’s illegal (and against agency policy) to use the department’s resources to influence an election. In light of this, the FBI is now under active investigation — of itself.
For its part, the FBI said the document dump was part of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. That said, it’s not exactly standard practice to fulfill FOIA requests via Twitter, and it doesn’t explain why the account was dormant for over a year prior.
The FBI issued the following statement:
Per the standard procedure for FOIA, these materials became available for release and were posted automatically and electronically to the FBI’s public reading room in accordance with the law and established procedures.
via Engadget
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