Leah Millis/Reuters
FBI agents called Trump supporters "retarded" in instant messages revealed in a report released by the Justice Department's inspector general on the FBI's handling of the Clinton email investigation.
- FBI agents referred to Trump supporters as "retarded" in instant messages revealed in a bombshell report released Thursday by the Justice Department's inspector general.
- The 568-page report contains intricate details surrounding the Hillary Clinton email investigation and faults former FBI Director James Comey over his handling of it.
- The report found political bias did not ultimately taint the investigation overall.
FBI agents referred to supporters of President Donald Trump as "retarded" in instant messages revealed in a bombshell report released Thursday by the Justice Department's inspector general on the FBI's handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation.
The 568-page report contains intricate details surrounding the Clinton investigation and faults former FBI Director James Comey over his handling of it.
The report found Comey departed "clearly and dramatically" from FBI and DOJ guidelines in the course of the investigation. Additionally, it suggests FBI officials may have wanted to hinder Trump's chances of winning the 2016 election.
On September 9, 2016, two agents exchanged the following messages, according to the report:
Agent 5: "i'm trying to think of a 'would i rather' instead of spending time with those people"
Agent 1: "stick your tongue in a fan??"
Agent 5: "i would rather have brunch with trump"
Agent 1: "ha"
Agent 1: "french toast with drumpf"
Agent 5: "i would rather have brunch with trump and a bunch of his supporters like the ones from ohio that are retarded"
Agent 5: ":)"
According to the report, Agent 5 and Agent 1 are "experienced" counterintelligence agents. The report includes multiple conversations similar in nature that it describes as damning to the FBI's reputation.
However, the report concluded that political bias did not ultimately taint the investigation overall, even as it criticized the conduct of Comey and other officials involved.
"While we did not find documentary or testimonial evidence that improper considerations, including political bias, directly affected the specific investigative actions we reviewed ... the conduct by these employees cast a cloud over the entire FBI investigation and sowed doubt about the FBI's work on, and its handling of, the ... investigation," the report states.
"The damage caused by these employees' actions extends far beyond the scope of the... investigation and goes to the heart of the FBI's reputation for neutral factfinding and political independence," the report said.