In 2016, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, then the Democratic nominee for president, seemed to dodge the consequences of an FBI criminal investigation into her alleged use of a private email server to conduct government business and her mishandling of classified information.

A newly declassified document reveals that Clinton escaped accountability for her email scandal in large part because the FBI, under then-Director James Comey's leadership, failed to conduct a "thorough and complete investigation" of the matter, according to the Daily Caller.

That bombshell revelation came by way of Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who just publicly released a previously classified appendix to Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz's 2018 review of the FBI's 2016 Clinton email server probe.

FBI didn't review likely evidence of Clinton wrongdoing

The declassified but partially redacted 35-page appendix to the DOJ OIG's 2018 report, dubbed the "Clinton annex" by Sen. Grassley, detailed how the FBI came to possess several thumb drives of data from an unidentified source that, among other sensitive things, contained information relevant to the then-ongoing investigation of former Secretary Clinton's private email server and mishandling of classified information.

In addition to reams of State Department emails, the thumb drives were also alleged to contain other data "exfiltrated" by a redacted culprit from various other "victims," including then-President Barack Obama's executive office, the House of Representatives, other federal agencies, and assorted private sector individuals and institutions.

However, despite requests from the investigative team to conduct a "thorough and complete investigation" of those thumb drives, particularly for evidence of any "national security risks," especially as relevant to the Clinton probe, that permission was never granted by the FBI's leadership at that time, including then-Director Comey, then-Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, and former Special Agent in Charge Peter Strzok, among others.

As a result, per IG Horowitz, the thumb drives were never fully reviewed, at least as part of the Clinton investigation, and the suspected evidence of Clinton's alleged wrongdoing was not considered by the investigative team.

Instead, in July 2016, Comey issued a public statement in which he chastised Clinton for her "reckless" behavior but declined to recommend any criminal charges against her.

Comey's FBI failed to do its job

In a press release on Monday, Sen. Grassley said of the declassified Clinton annex, "This document shows an extreme lack of effort and due diligence in the FBI’s investigation of former Secretary Clinton’s email usage and mishandling of highly classified information."

"Under Comey’s leadership, the FBI failed to perform fundamental investigative work and left key pieces of evidence on the cutting room floor," he continued. "The Comey FBI’s negligent approach and perhaps intentional lack of effort in the Clinton investigation is a stark contrast to its full-throated investigation of the Trump-Russia collusion hoax, which was based on the uncorroborated and now discredited Steele dossier. Comey’s decision-making process smacks of political infection."

"I warned years ago that the Clinton investigation failed to hit the mark, and I’m grateful the American people can finally see the facts for themselves," the senator said.

"After nearly a decade in the shadows, this information is now coming to light thanks to Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel’s dedicated efforts to fulfill my congressional request," Grassley added. "I appreciate their ongoing commitment to transparency and strongly urge them to continue to fully review this matter, including its national security impact."

Release only possible because of the Trump administration

In the first of a pair of X posts about the issue on Monday, Sen. Grassley wrote, "NEWLY-DECLASSIFIED DOC shows DOJ Inspector Gen concluded the Comey-run FBI FAILED 2 conduct a thorough + complete investigation into Clinton email scandal Comey & his team ate up Steele Dossier lies + chased after Russia collusion hoax but took kid gloves approach on Clinton."

The senator thanked those who made the release possible and added separately, "Im making 'Clinton annex' public 2day so the American ppl hv all the facts Sen Johnson & I hv requested this document’s declassification together since 2020 & Pres Trump/Pam Bondi/Kash Patel + others finally got it done Thx 4 ur dedication to transparency."