Comey's actions extraordinary, insubordinate: US Justice Dept

Inspector General Michael Horowitz of the United States Justice Department said former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey's actions in the Hillary Clinton email investigation case were "extraordinary and insubordinate.

As per Horowitz, although Comey's actions disregarded the department's norms, he was not influenced by political bias.

The inspector general released a report which claims that the top officials in charge of the investigation had damaged the FBI's reputation.

"The damage caused by these employees' actions extends far beyond the scope of the Midyear (Clinton) investigation and goes to the heart of the FBI's reputation for neutral fact finding and political independence," CNN quoted the report.

The United States Justice Department on Thursday issued a report with respect to the case of Hillary Clinton's mail server.

As per the Fox news, the report drafted by Horowitz retrieved new text messages exchanged between agent Peter Strzok, and FBI lawyer Lisa Page who are considered to be in a relationship.

The report mentioned the texts to be 'disappointing' and said it could lead to the questioning of the integrity of the 2016 Clinton probe.

Further, a slew of anti-Trump messages were found to be exchanged between the two via government devices. One of them was about Strzok vowing to 'stop' Trump from being elected just months before the presidential election.

On August 8, 2016, Page had sent a message to Strzok asking "[Trump's] not ever going to become president, right? Right?!" and Strzok replied "No. No he won't. We'll stop it."

The report may give rise to the debate over the extent to which Comey's actions secured Trump's victory.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said the department will "hold employees accountable for any potential misconduct" in response to the report.

On May 31, Trump said he did not fire Comey due to the alleged Russian meddling probe, but because of his missteps on the Clinton email probe.

In January last year, Horowitz had announced to launch a probe into the department and the FBI's handling of the investigation into Clinton's private email server.

The investigation was about the former US Secretary of States use of a private email server and whether she mishandled classified information in doing so.

The announcement came after criticism of the Justice Department's handling of the investigation, particularly on how the public was notified about the controversy, which was a major issue in the presidential election.