WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Ranking Member Tom Carper (D-Del.), Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), and Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Ben Cardin (D-Md.) issued the following comment after the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation failed to provide clarity regarding the latest review of Secretary Clinton’s emails. The Ranking Members on Saturday sent a letter to Attorney General Lynch and FBI Director Comey asking for details about the review, and on Monday received a vague response from the Justice Department’s office of legislative affairs.

“The Justice Department’s response to our letter was disappointing and inadequate.  The vague letter that Director Comey sent to Congress last Friday has led to widespread confusion and unfair speculation.  In fact, it appears that when Director Comey sent his letter, the FBI had not even sought or obtained the authority necessary to review the emails in question.

“We are deeply troubled by the fact that Director Comey apparently sent his letter without even knowing the basic facts about the emails.  The result is that the letter is being mischaracterized and misconstrued for political benefit, which is the very reason the Justice Department has a longstanding policy against publicizing investigations so close to Election Day.

“Voters are going to the polls at this very moment, and it is incumbent on the FBI Director and Attorney General to provide Congress and the American people with clear, unambiguous answers about what the FBI knows and doesn’t know about the emails in question, including how many are duplicate emails that have already been reviewed by the FBI.  We renew our request that the FBI Director and Attorney General respond immediately to the specific questions we asked in our letter dated October 29, 2016.”