The FBI agent at the center of a media firestorm regarding the bureau's investigations of Hillary Clinton and President Donald Trump contributed to former FBI director James Comey's remarks to Congress about reopening the Clinton email investigation days before the 2016 election.
According to CNN, Peter Strzok emailed a draft of Comey's memo to several people within the FBI on Oct. 27. Comey sent the final draft of the letter to Congress the following day.
Comey announced in July 2016 that he would not recommend charges be brought against Clinton for her use of a private email setup during her time as secretary of state. Shortly before the election, however, the FBI learned that emails belonging to Clinton's assistant Huma Abedin were located on a laptop belonging to Abedin's husband Anthony Weiner, who at the time was being investigated for sexting with a teenage girl.
On Nov. 6, two days before the election, the FBI informed Congress that Comey would not change his earlier conclusion to the Clinton case after reviewing the emails in question.
Strzok has come under fire for exchanging text messages with another FBI official that were pro-Clinton and anti-Trump before and after the election. Some have speculated that Strzok may have been part of an FBI conspiracy to help Clinton get elected and then, after Trump won, force Trump out of office via the Russia investigation.
Two sources told CNN that Strzok sent text messages around the time Comey told Congress he was taking a second look at the Clinton probe that tried to prevent making Comey's statement public because of its proximity to the election.
Below is the memo draft that Strzok emailed to FBI colleagues. It closely resembles the final version that was sent to lawmakers on Capitol Hill:
"In previous Congressional testimony, I referred, under oath, to the fact that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had completed its investigation of former Secretary Clinton's personal email server. Due to recent developments, I am writing to supplement my previous testimony. In connection with an unrelated case, the FBI has learned of the existence of emails pertinent to the investigation. I am writing to inform you that yesterday, I decided the FBI had an obligation to take appropriate investigative steps to review these emails to determine whether they contain classified information, as well as to assess their importance to our investigation.
"While at this time the FBI cannot yet assess the significance of this material, I believe it is important to update the Committee about our efforts in light of my previous testimony."
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