Paul Ryan: FBI acting like ‘arm of Clinton campaign’
House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin is lambasting the FBI for burying its Hillary Clinton report by releasing it over the long Labor Day weekend. The Republican leader said it made the Feds look like a “political operator” rather than law enforcement.
“[The Labor Day weekend is] like the most buried time you could put out stories. I’m surprised,” Paul Ryan told Wisconsin-based WRJN radio on Tuesday. “I mean, I can’t believe they would do what is such a patently political move. It makes them look like political operators versus law enforcement officers.”
It makes the FBI look like political operators instead of law enforcement officers. https://t.co/hMUNkMYmDK
— Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) September 7, 2016
The House Speaker questioned the FBI’s decision to release the 47-page report, initially meant for Congress, right on the eve of the three-day Labor Day weekend, saying that this fact “mystifies” him “as to why they thought that was a smart thing to do.”
Speaking to host Glenn Klein, Ryan said that he “fundamentally” disagrees with James Comey’s “conclusion,” especially “now that we’ve seen that evidence.”
The FBI said in the report that investigators "did not find evidence confirming that Clinton's email accounts or mobile devices were compromised by cyber means." Yet it noted that there were "investigative limitations" that prevented FBI from conclusively determining if the information was compromised, because not all devices and computer components were obtained.
Ryan took to Twitter on the day the FBI declassified its report along with Clinton’s July 2, 2016 interview with the agency concerning the use of her home-based private server during her tenure as secretary of state.
FBI documents about Sec. Clinton cast further doubt on Justice Dept's decision to avoid prosecuting what is a clear violation of the law.
— Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) September 3, 2016
Ryan accused Clinton of having “real trust issues, real credibility issues,” saying that the Democratic presidential nominee “is the last person” he would like to see become the US next president.
“This is not the kind of person we wanna trust the White House with,” he said.
The larger part of the FBI’s redacted documents is a “factual summary” of the investigation, which began in July 2015, at the request of the US Intelligence Community Inspector General.
“What she said she did with respect to her emails, her devices and all the rest versus now the facts as we know them as released in the Friday data dump," he said.
It has been revealed that 81 of Clinton’s email chains contained classified information at the time they were sent between 2009 and 2013, and 68 of them remained classified.
Clinton told the FBI that “she occasionally received odd-looking email, but never noticed an increase in these types of emails that would be a cause for concern,” the interview summary said.
Clinton used a total of 20 mobile devices ‒ 13 Blackberries, two other phones and five Apple iPads ‒ during her four years as secretary of state, none of which were provided by the government.
The house speaker has been a vocal critic of FBI Director Comey’s recommendation not to press charges against Clinton back in July, saying that the FBI’s chief’s announcement "raises more questions than provides answers."
In his interview with WRJN, Ryan also seized an opportunity to blast the Obama administration for giving Iran $400 million at the same time that Iran handed over four American prisoners.
He said the move made the deal look like ransom, which is against the US tradition of refusing cash-for-hostages swaps.
“The last impression of America you want is that we will pay cash for hostages, because all you do is encourage more hostage-taking,” Ryan said.
