WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Congressman Darrell Issa issued the following statement reacting to today’s report from the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Inspector General:

“Today’s report from the Department of Justice’s Inspector General sheds new light on the cumulative bias at some of the highest levels of the FBI during the lead-up to the 2016 election. Time after time, high-ranking FBI officials put politics before country and usurped their leadership responsibilities to protect themselves and their political allies. The report shows how the FBI became infected with politics and continuously disregarded rules and procedures to the detriment of Donald Trump and benefit of Hillary Clinton. Furthermore, contrary to reports from the Clinton campaign and the Obama DOJ, we now know that Clinton’s negligent e-mail security practices resulted in foreign actors attempting to breach high level information.

Most troublingly, Inspector General Michael Horowitz found text messages between FBI personnel that clearly demonstrate a strong prejudice against then-candidate Donald Trump. In one particular exchange, an FBI agent called Trump “a menace.” The same agent proclaimed the FBI would need to take out an “insurance policy” in case Trump was elected. A different FBI agent responded to the prospect of a Trump presidency by proclaiming, “We’ll stop it.” For the sake of the Republic, thank God they failed.

President Trump was absolutely correct in terminating James Comey for the incompetence, arrogance, and insubordination he consistently displayed in his role as Director of the FBI.  If we are to restore faith in the FBI as an institution, we must clean house to reestablish the American people’s confidence in the Bureau.”

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