*By Alisha Haridasani*
The way that former FBI director James Comey handled the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email server broke protocol and damaged the Justice Department's reputation as an impartial law enforcement arm, the department’s Inspector General Michael Horowitz said.
“By departing so clearly and dramatically from FBI and department norms, the decisions negatively impacted the perception of the FBI and the department as fair administrators of justice,” Horowitz wrote in his highly-anticipated [report](https://www.justice.gov/file/1071991/download) released on Thursday.
The 500-page report also criticized two FBI agents ー Peter Strzok and Lisa Page ー for exchanging politically charged text messages. Many of those texts had been released, but in one previously undisclosed message, Strzok said the FBI "will stop" Trump from winning. "The conduct by these employees cast a cloud over the entire FBI investigation," the report said.
But, the Justice Department investigator concluded that Comey was not motivated by politics, despite the views of some members of the team.
"We found that Comey largely based his decisions on what he believed was in the FBI's institutional interests and would enable him to continue to effectively lead the FBI," the report said.
"I do not agree with all of the inspector general's conclusions, but I respect the work of his office and salute its professionalism," Comey said in a response to the report in [The New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/14/opinion/comey-clinton-inspector-general.html).
The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on the report on Monday. The report's findings will likely reanimate Senators on both sides of the aisle who were equally critical of Comey’s actions ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
Republicans, especially President Trump, have said Comey’s decision not to recommend charges against Clinton was a clear ploy to help her win. Democrats point to Comey's public announcement a week before election day that he was reopening the investigation because of new evidence as the reason Clinton lost.
The inspector general's report may also give Trump more ammunition to try to discredit the Justice Department and the FBI as they continue to investigate whether his campaign worked with Russia during the 2016 race. Trump said he fired Comey last year over his role in the Russia investigation, which led to the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel.
President Donald Trump says he will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China. Trump said Monday on his social media site that he had informed China’s leader Xi Jinping and “President Xi responded positively!” There had been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips into China as it could help them to compete against the U.S. in building out AI capabilities. But there has also been a desire to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker Nvidia.
House Republicans in key battleground districts are working to contain the political fallout expected when thousands of their constituents face higher bills for health insurance coverage obtained through the Affordable Care Act. For a critical sliver of the GOP majority, the impending expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits after Dec. 31 could be a major political liability as they potentially face midterm headwinds in a 2026 election critical to President Donald Trump’s agenda. For Democrats, the party’s strategy for capturing the House majority revolves around pinning higher bills for groceries, health insurance and utilities on Republicans.
President Donald Trump says a deal struck by Netflix last week to buy Warner Bros. Discovery “could be a problem” because of the size of the combined market share. The Republican president says he will be involved in the decision about whether federal regulators should approve the deal. Trump commented Sunday when he was asked about the deal as he walked the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Honors. The $72 billion deal would bring together two of the biggest players in television and film and potentially reshape the entertainment industry.
The two-sentence footnote raised serious concerns about accuracy and credibility.
Real estate software company RealPage has agreed to stop sharing nonpublic information between landlords as part of a settlement with the Department of Justice.
A legislative package to end the government shutdown appears on track. A handful of Senate Democrats joined with Republicans to advance the bill after what's become a deepening disruption of federal programs and services. But hurdles remain. Senators are hopeful they can pass the package as soon as Monday and send it to the House. What’s in and out of the bipartisan deal has drawn criticism and leaves few senators fully satisfied. The legislation includes funding for SNAP food aid and other programs while ensuring backpay for furloughed federal workers. But it fails to fund expiring health care subsidies Democrats have been fighting for, pushing that debate off for a vote next month.
