CNBC’s Chief Washington correspondent John Harwood attempted to fact-check President Donald Trump over the contents of Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report — and immediately got fact-checked himself by CNN’s Laura Jarrett and Jake Tapper.
(RELATED: DOJ Official Tipped Podesta On Clinton Email Release, Shopped His Son For Campaign Job)
Harwood was responding to President Trump’s tweet attacking Strzok for saying in a text that he would “stop” Trump from becoming president.
Justice IG report found no evidence that Strzok’s disdain for Trump or any other improper consideration affected conduct of Clinton email investigation https://t.co/YihfdTZmew
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) June 15, 2018
But as Jarrett quickly pointed out, despite the report’s overall conclusion that bias did not affect the outcome of investigations, bias was certainly obvious — and there was some question as to whether bias had been a factor in the delays related to obtaining and reviewing the contents of Anthony Weiner’s laptop.
Here’s the problem – it’s messy. While the IG found no evidence that bias affected the *specific* investigative actions reviewed pre-July 2016, he *does not* have confidence that the delay in reviewing the Weiner laptop emails was “free from bias.” https://t.co/iyhYoZ4oL8
— Laura Jarrett (@LauraAJarrett) June 15, 2018
Tapper agreed, saying that the IG report did not necessarily clear the FBI of allowing bias to influence their moves regarding the Weiner laptop.
Laura is 100% correct. Anyone reporting that the IG report clears the FBI of any accusations of political bias are ignoring the post-July 2016 section where the Weiner laptop emerges. https://t.co/eBj7tEcc7S
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) June 15, 2018
As MSNBC’s Chris Hayes noted, however, the delays ultimately led to the story breaking at a time when it hurt Clinton — mitigating the effects any bias may have had in the process.
Though one should also note, as you did yesterday, the *net effect* of the delay was to cause the FBI to announce re-opening the investigation right before the election, which all evidence have shows hurt Clinton.
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) June 15, 2018