A GOP House lawmaker suggested the FBI's summer news dumps regarding Hillary Clinton have coincided with two federal holidays, raising the question of whether the agency "is playing politics in releasing information to the American public."
In a terse letter to FBI Director James Comey, Ohio Republican Rep. Michael Turner demands an explanation on why the news disclosures were made at a time when Americans were focused on observing the holidays – Independence and Labor days.
"Please explain how the FBI's procedures for processing documents and information to the public coincide with these federal holidays, and how those procures could be improved to ensure greater public awareness, and reduce the appearance of political motivations," he asked.
Turner, who sits on both the House Oversight and the House Intelligence committees, cited the examples:
- Saturday, July 2, when Clinton was interviewed at FBI headquarters
- Tuesday July 5, when the agency announced no charges will be filed against her for "extremely careless" handling of classified information on her private email server
- And Friday Sept. 2, when the agency released documents from its probe of Clinton's private email server.
"Despite Director Comey's assertions that the FBI's investigation of Hillary Clinton was apolitical, the bureau continues to release information on federal holiday weekends," Turner wrote on his official webpage.
"The fact that these releases coincide with holidays and weekends raises the question of whether the FBI is playing politics in releasing information to the American public."