Top agent in Utah says FBI report is disappointing; Sen. Orrin Hatch calls it appalling


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SALT LAKE CITY — The special agent in charge of the FBI office in Salt Lake City called Justice Department inspector general Michael Horowitz’s stinging report on the agency's handling of the Clinton email investigation disappointing.

"The inspector general does not do good news reports, and you would expect nothing less from him," said Eric Barnhart, who oversees FBI field offices in Utah, Idaho and Montana. "We've been down this road before in that we need to take a hard look and make sure that this never happens again."

The 568-page report deemed former FBI Director James Comey "insubordinate" in his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation during the 2016 presidential election. But it also concluded there was no evidence that Comey was motivated by political bias.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, called the report "appalling" and that the significance of its findings can't be overstated.

"The report identifies missteps at every level of the Department of Justice — from our nation’s chief federal law enforcement officer to special agents in the field," he said during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Monday.

"How are the American people supposed to have confidence in the integrity of the FBI and its investigative work when you have agents disparaging the subjects of investigations, calling investigations pointless and a waste of time, and describing themselves as part of the ‘resistance’?”

FBI Director Christopher Wray told the committee that the agency accepted the findings of the report and has started making changes, including about how the bureau handles especially sensitive investigations, according to the Associated Press. The FBI is also reinforcing through employee training the need to avoid the appearance of political bias and has referred employees singled out in the report to the agency's investigative arm for possible discipline.

"We're going to learn from the report and be better as a result," Wray said.

Hatch said he was disappointed with Wray's response last week that although the report found errors in judgment it focused on a small number of FBI employees.

Those employees, he said, were the director, deputy director and leaders of the the Clinton email and Russia investigations, not junior field agents. "And they were insubordinate, unprofessional in their communications, and even untruthful," Hatch said.

The inspector general found that the FBI policy limiting who is allowed to speak to the media was widely ignored at all levels of the agency.

Barnhart said there is a problem with leaks at the FBI, DOJ and government in general.

"Obviously, you all love that but that's problematic for us," he told reporters at the FBI office in Salt Lake City on Monday. "I'll be blunt, that's not who we are and we need to find out the root cause of that."

Barnhart said there were some FBI employees who were undisciplined and unprofessional in their use of government devices and gave the appearance of a political bias.

Though the report didn't find systematic bias, he said he knows the public is not going to view it that way.

"I get it," Barnhart said. "Even one person expressing any of those sort of sentiments is too many for us."

Hatch called text messages between FBI agents disparaging President Donald Trump "disturbing" and "shocking."

An agent on the Clinton email investigation suggested in texts to a colleague that anyone who planned to vote from Trump was “an absolute idiot.” The agent also called the Clinton email investigation “the most meaningless thing I’ve ever done” and said, “It’s just so obvious how pointless this exercise is."

Hatch said the errors identified in the report cast a cloud over the Clinton email investigation and its credibility.

"Even more troubling is the irreparable harm to the FBI’s reputation for neutral fact-finding and political independence," the senator said.

Barnhart said he didn't want to get into the political angle. But regarding morale he said for his employees with 25 years experience, the last couple of years have been "different" than the first 20 years or so.

And, he said, those with a couple of years in will say, "'Holy smokes, is this what the next 25 to 30 years is going to be like?'"

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Dennis Romboy
Dennis Romboy is an editor and reporter for the Deseret News. He has covered a variety of beats over the years, including state and local government, social issues and courts. A Utah native, Romboy earned a degree in journalism from the University of Utah. He enjoys cycling, snowboarding and running.

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