What to Know About the Hillary Clinton Interview Notes the FBI Gave to Congress
The Clinton campaign and one Republican are calling for the docs to be released
— -- The FBI provided Congress with documents on Tuesday, related to the investigation of Hillary Clinton's handling of classified information over her private email server.
Republican lawmakers pushed for the FBI to release any documents pertaining to the investigation, including notes on the former secretary of state’s three-and-a-half-hour interview with the agency last month. While the materials are currently classified, there are some Democrats and at least one Republican who want the documents to be made available to the public.
Here are some key facts about the documents the FBI handed over to Congress.
What Did Congress Ask for?
Calls for the FBI to release Clinton’s interview notes started after FBI Director James Comey testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in July to explain the FBI’s decision not to recommend criminal charges against Clinton.
Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, sent a letter to Comey asking for "interview transcripts, notes, 302 reports," which are interview summaries, and other documents related to the investigation into Clinton’s use of the private email server during her State Department tenure.
Rep. Tom Marino, R-Pennsylvania, and 34 other Republican lawmakers asked Comey on Monday to provide any transcripts, notes or recordings of Clinton’s interview with the FBI.
Republicans are also calling on the Justice Department to conduct an investigation into whether Clinton committed perjury during her October testimony before the House Select Committee on Benghazi.
"The evidence collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) during its investigation of Secretary Clinton’s use of a personal email system during her time as Secretary of State appears to directly contradict several aspects of her sworn testimony," Chaffetz and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Virginia, wrote in a letter Monday.
What Documents Did The FBI Provide?
The documents handed over by the FBI only contain notes and summaries of the interviews and other aspects of the investigations.
The FBI explained "certain relevant materials" were handed over to congressional committees, but did not elaborate on the contents. Rep. Adam Schiff, ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, said the documents included "FBI witness interview reports, including that of Secretary Clinton’s interview," and other materials relating to the case.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the production included "interview summaries and supporting materials" and said much of it was marked as "unclassified/for official use" –- aside from the e-mails from Clinton’s server that contained classified information.
As is common practice with FBI interviews of witnesses and investigative targets alike, a full transcript of the Democratic presidential nominee’s FBI interview does not exist and the FBI did not record the interview, Comey explained in his testimony in July. He also said Clinton was not under oath when she partook in the interview, though it would still be a crime to deliberately and knowingly mislead law enforcement.
Could Those Notes Contain Sensitive Information?
Potentially, they could, and that’s one concern the State Department had.
The agency wanted to review any documents relating to the interview before they are provided to Congress, State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said.
"The State Department respects the FBI's desire to accommodate the request of its committees of oversight in Congress just as we do with our oversight committees," Trudeau said Monday. "The State Department has asked the FBI that we be kept apprised of information provided to Congress that contains sensitive information related to State Department equities and for an opportunity to review it."
Could These Documents Become Public?
The Clinton campaign and at least one Republican –- Sen. Grassley -- are pushing for the unclassified documents to be released fully to the public.
"The FBI should make as much of the material available as possible. The public’s business ought to be public, with few exceptions," Grassley said. "The people’s interest would be served in seeing the documents that are unclassified."
There are concerns among Democrats that Republicans will leak selective portions of these documents for political reasons, potentially creating a distraction in the 2016 campaign.
"This is an extraordinarily rare step that was sought solely by Republicans for the purposes of further second-guessing the career professionals at the FBI. We believe that if these materials are going to be shared outside the Justice Department, they should be released widely so that the public can see them for themselves, rather than allow Republicans to mischaracterize them through selective, partisan leaks,” Brian Fallon, a spokesman for the Clinton campaign, said Monday.
The FBI has said lawmakers cannot release the any of the documents without consulting the FBI.
"The material contains classified and other sensitive information and is being provided with the expectation it will not be disseminated or disclosed without FBI concurrence," the FBI said in a statement.
ABC News' Ely Brown and Mike Levine contributed to this report.
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