Did Giuliani have inside info on Hillary Clinton probe in 2016? DOJ watchdog inconclusive

WASHINGTON – As part of a broad leak investigation related to the FBI's Hillary Clinton email inquiry, the Justice Department's inspector general could not determine whether Rudy Giuliani had access to inside information prior to the dramatic decision to re-open the Clinton probe in the closing days of the 2016 election.

Just two days before Congress was notified that the investigation into Clinton's handling of classified information was resuming, Giluiani, then adviser to Donald Trump, suggested that a "surprise or two" was coming in the final days of the campaign. The comments raised questions about whether Giuliani had been tipped to the decision.

In subsequent interviews with investigators, Giuliani and four unidentified agents denied any contact, according to the inspector general's review. The review included an examination of telephone records provided by the FBI, which showed that the four agents had contact with general numbers associated with Giuliani's law firm and two former businesses.

"The telephone numbers attributed by the FBI to Giuliani were not, therefore, specific to Giuliani," the inspector general concluded. "Accordingly, the purported investigative leads provided by the FBI based on alleged FBI employee contacts with Giuliani were inaccurate."

Giuliani, when interviewed by Justice investigators, said the Oct. 28, 2016 decision by then-FBI Director James Comey was "a shock to me."

"I had no fore-knowledge," Giuliani said, according to the report.

"Giuliani also said he had not been in contact with any active FBI agents in October 2016, and stated that he had only spoken with former agents who did not have any direct or indirect knowledge of FBI investigations in October 2016," the report said.

Giuliani characterized his conversations with former agents as "gossip."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Were Giuliani, FBI in contact on Clinton in 2016? DOJ IG inconclusive