Clinton Foundation Probe Continues

In the days since FBI Director James Comey wrote to congressional leaders revealing new information in the Hillary Clinton email investigation, Clinton defenders have been spinning furiously in an attempt to mitigate the potential political damage. They have attacked Comey, blamed a rogue band of anti-Clinton FBI officials, suggested the FBI itself has a culture that lends itself to political conservatism, downplayed the Clinton email investigation and denied the existence of a Clinton Foundation investigation. While there are legitimate concerns about the lack of detail accompanying Comey's letter, some of efforts to downplay the seriousness of the FBI investigations, plural, and the professionalism of those conducting them are deeply political and misleading. And the reporting on an investigation of the Clinton Foundation is conflicting and somewhat contradictory.

On Friday, two Democratic congressmen wrote to the FBI requesting an investigation of "leaks" about the case, specifically citing the reporting of my Fox News colleague, Bret Baier. Representatives Elijah Cummings and John Conyers wrote:

For example, on Wednesday, Fox News anchor Bret Baier claimed on national television—based on multiple leaks—that the FBI was "actively and aggressively" investigating the Clinton Foundation and that an indictment was "likely." This morning, however, Mr. Baier was forced to correct his report, admitting that it was "a mistake."

They're half right. Baier's comment about a possible indictment came not during his lengthy account of Clinton investigations on "Special Report," the show he anchors, but in a Q&A during a subsequent appearance with Brit Hume. Baier later amended his comment on the "indictment" language he'd used, calling it a mistake, but Fox News is standing by the key claim in Baier's reporting on his show: There is an ongoing investigation into the Clinton Foundation. (Baier's other scoop in the same package, that the FBI has retained the electronic devices it was thought to have destroyed as part of immunity deals with Clinton, remains unchallenged.)

Other reporters at Fox have reporting that backs up Baier's reporting on the Clinton Foundation investigation. (I have one source who says the same thing). And Baier is hardly alone in reporting that the FBI is investigating the Clinton Foundation. Richard Pollock of The Daily Caller has been reporting the same since the summer. And CNN Senior Law Enforcement Analyst Tom Fuentes, a former top FBI official, cited conversations with "several" senior FBI officials when reported three times last weekend that the FBI investigation of the Clinton Foundation was "ongoing."