Three senior DOJ officials leaked non-public investigative information ‘days before an election’: inspector general

Three senior Justice Department officials violated internal policies and engaged in “misconduct” when they leaked details about a non-public investigation to the media “days before an election,” the agency’s inspector general revealed Monday.

The DOJ’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG), which has been run by Michael Horowitz since 2012, launched a probe after it received a complaint alleging that a “politically motivated” disclosure related to “information about ongoing matters” was made in the runup to an unspecified election. 

“The OIG investigation found that three then Senior DOJ Officials violated DOJ’s Confidentiality and Media Contacts Policy by leaking to select reporters, days before an election, non-public DOJ investigative information regarding ongoing DOJ investigative matters, resulting in the publication of two news articles that included the non-public DOJ investigative information,” the DOJ OIG said in a brief investigative summary.

“The OIG investigation also found that one of these three then Senior DOJ Officials violated the Confidentiality and Media Contacts Policy and DOJ’s Social Media Policy by reposting through a DOJ social media account links to the news articles,” the summary continued. 

The three officials were no longer DOJ employees when the investigation began and declined or did not respond to interview requests, according to the OIG, which does not have the authority to compel testimony from former employees. 

“The OIG has completed its investigation and provided its report to the Office of the Deputy Attorney General and, because the report contained misconduct findings against attorneys, provided its report to the Professional Misconduct Review Unit for appropriate action,” Horowitz’s office said, adding that a report was also provided to the US Office of Special Counsel for potential Hatch Act violations to be investigated. 

It’s unclear what investigation the former DOJ employees are accused of leaking to media outlets.

In September, Sen. Chuck Grassley also wrote a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray that was also forwarded to Horowitz, accusing the DOJ and FBI of “leaking material and information to the media” about an ultimately closed probe into President-elect Donald Trump. 

The shuttered investigation pertained to allegations from a “confidential informant” that Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi sought to boost Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign with $10 million in cash. 

The investigation, initially handled by former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team, was closed in June 2020 over a “lack of sufficient evidence” — but reported by the Washington Post in August 2024.

The outlet cited “people familiar with the case” and “thousands of pages of government records, including sealed court filings” in its reporting.

Grassley (R-Iowa) fired off another letter to Garland, Wray and Horowitz, as well as special counsel Jack Smith, after the November 2024 election — to ensure that all records relating to Smith’s investigations into Trump are preserved. 

In the missive, the senator notes that the request is necessary “considering the Justice Department’s past destruction of federal records” related to Mueller’s Trump probe and Smith’s use of at least one FBI special agent who worked on aspects of the Mueller investigation and “would’ve most likely had access to or been made aware of information” leaked to the Washington Post about the Egypt-Trump probe. 

Trump, 78, has long accused Smith – the prosecutor tasked with leading the classified documents and 2020 election interference inquiries into Trump – of leaking details of his investigation to the media “like a sieve.”

He raged on social media in June 2023, as he campaigned for the GOP presidential nomination, that Smith “illegally leaked” an audio recording of him seemingly discussing a classified document related to Iran at his Bedminster, NJ, golf club. 

A redacted transcript of the recording was included in Smith’s indictment against Trump in the classified documents case, which was dismissed by a federal judge in July.

Trump’s first term in office was marked by leaks during and after the 2016 election about the FBI’s probe into alleged collusion between Russia and his campaign — leading to scathing reports by Horowitz and two separate investigations by Mueller and special counsel John Durham into the bureau’s conduct.

The OIG even referred ex-FBI boss James Comey for prosecution himself for leaking some internal memos to the media, NBC News reported in 2019, but the DOJ chose not to bring charges.

Another DOJ corruption probe into Sen. Bob Menendez was also leaked months before the Garden State Democrat’s indictment in September 2023 and ahead of his decision to announce his independent run for re-election, which was later aborted due to his conviction on the bribery charges this year.

Reps for the DOJ OIG declined to comment. 

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