Giuliani: Comey could be prosecuted based on IG report

President Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani said on Sunday that he thinks former FBI Director James Comey could be prosecuted as a result of a report from the Justice Department’s (DOJ) internal watchdog that is expected to be released next week.

“I think the report of Horowitz, the [inspector general], and the Justice Department will confirm that Comey acted improperly with with regard to the Hillary Clinton investigation,” Giuliani said an interview with radio host John Catsimatidis.

“The first thing we are going to get is a report from Inspector General Horowitz on Comey’s handling of Hillary, which I think is going to be very very critical of Comey, as it should be,” Giuliani continued. “Comey, really, has a chance of being prosecuted as a result of, but we’ll see.”{mosads}

In a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on Thursday, DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz said that he planned to release a report about the FBI’s probe into former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s emails during the 2016 election on June 14.

Horowitz’s report is expected to be highly critical of Comey, who was fired by Trump last year, and former Attorney General Loretta Lynch over their handling of the investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server while she served as secretary of State.

According to a source close to the matter, a draft of the report states that Comey defied authority at times, dubbing him “insubordinate.”

The draft report has been more than a year in the making, with the Justice Department launching its investigation into the matter in January 2017, about a week before Trump took office.

The investigation was launched in response to bipartisan requests from lawmakers who sought further information on allegations that Comey broke FBI policy with his public disclosures of the Clinton email probe.

Comey has been criticized by both Republicans and Democrats for his handling of the Clinton investigation, which he publicly reopened just days before Election Day.

Clinton supporters and allies who blamed Comey’s announcement, particularly its timing, for contributing to Clinton’s loss in the 2016 election have reacted positively to the launch of the inspector general’s investigation. 

Previous findings from another scathing inspector general report led to the firing of former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe over his unauthorized disclosure to the media and lack of frankness with investigators.

Trump has been a frequent critic of Comey, stating that he left the bureau’s reputation “in tatters.”

Earlier this week, Trump appeared to try to cast doubt on findings that may exonerate Comey or Clinton ahead of the report’s release. 

“What is taking so long with the Inspector General’s Report on Crooked Hillary and Slippery James Comey,” he tweeted on Tuesday. “Numerous delays. Hope Report is not being changed and made weaker! There are so many horrible things to tell, the public has the right to know. Transparency!”

Horowitz said he will testify before the Judiciary Committee on June 18. The House Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform committees are expected to hold a joint hearing on the report the next day.