Clinton email enquiry: FBI director James Comey to be probed

Washington: The Justice Department inspector generals office on Thursday said that it would open an investigation into the decision that FBI director James B. Comey took in October to inform Congress about a new review in the Hillary Clinton email investigation - a move Clinton said cost her the election.

The inspector general's office said the investigation came in response to complaints from members of Congress and the public about actions by the FBI and the Justice Department during the campaign that might be seen as politically motivated, New York Times reported.

Chief among those actions was the decision by Comey to write two letters on the email matter within 11 days of the election, creating a wave of damaging news stories about the controversy late in the campaign.

In the end, the new emails that the FBI reviewed -- which came up during an unrelated enquiry into Anthony D. Weiner, the estranged husband of a top Clinton aide, Huma Abedin -- proved irrelevant.

The inspector general would also be examining other issues, including whether the deputy director of the FBI should have recused himself from any involvement in the Clinton email investigation.