U.S. Justice Department to probe into FBI pre-election handling of Clinton emails

The U.S. Justice Department will look into whether Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey's handling of Hillary Clinton's emails were proper during the election campaign, local media reported Friday.

The investigation will be wide-ranging, encompassing Comey's various letters and public statements on the matter and whether FBI or other Justice Department employees leaked nonpublic information, Washington Post quoted Inspector General Michael Horowitz as saying.

Comey promised to cooperate with the investigation, saying "everyone will benefit from thoughtful evaluation and transparency."

Horowitz's announcement again put an spotlight on Comey's role last year when he told the Congress in July that Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, has been "extremely careless" by storing her work emails on a private server.

Comey said in October that the FBI had discovered a new batch of emails and was reevaluating whether they were actionable evidence, he concluded just three days before the election that the case was closed.

Comey's actions drew ire from particularly the Democrats, who accused the FBI is using the Clinton's email case as a political tool to sabotage her campaign.

So far there has been no indication that Comey had broken the law, and the Justice Department probe will focus on whether Comey acted inappropriately, showed bad judgement or violated guidelines.

It is unclear what consequences Comey may face were the allegations were confirmed. Enditem