WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and co-author of the bipartisan Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act, released the following statement on the Inspector General’s report on the 2016 election. 

“Over the next few days, I will be digging into the details of this lengthy Inspector General report, but as the coverage and spin of this report begins, it’s important to be clear about what this is and what this isn’t.

“This is an important accounting of actions taken by Department of Justice employees related to the investigation of Secretary Clinton's use of a private email server, including some that appear to have been violations of longstanding DOJ policies. Equally important is the fact that the Inspector General found absolutely no evidence that the decision to conclude that investigation without prosecution was the result of bias at the FBI or DOJ.

“This is not proof of a ‘Deep State’ or evidence of a conspiracy against the President. Most importantly, this does nothing to undermine the important investigation that Special Counsel Robert Mueller is conducting into Russian interference with our election.

“I expect President Trump to continue to claim that this report somehow taints Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation, but that simply does not match the facts. The actions focused on in this report took place months before Special Counsel Mueller was even appointed by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, whom President Trump appointed.”

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