It’s wrong for any Senator–let alone the Judiciary Chairman–to urge selective leaking of a federal investigation. https://t.co/W10LDZ4KL1
— Senator Harry Reid (@SenatorReid) April 25, 2016
The controversy surrounds comments Grassley made during a meeting on Friday which was first reported by The Des Moines Register.
“Is there going to be political interference?” Grassley reportedly said in Iowa according to The Des Moines Register. “If there’s enough evidence to prosecute, will there be political interference? And if there’s political interference, then I assume that somebody in the FBI is going to leak these reports and it’s either going to have an effect politically or it’s going to lead to prosecution if there’s enough evidence.”
Sen. Reid took Grassley to task again before Congress on Monday. Watch the video (via The Washington Free Beacon)
Here is what Sen. Reid said:
As each days passes, the Senior Senator from Iowa further distinguishes himself as as the most political and partisan judiciary chairman in history. Last Friday, Sen. Grassley took his political partisanship to a new level when he encouraged the FBI to join the political crusade against Hillary Clinton.It is wrong for any Senator, especially the chair of the judicial committee who deals with these issues day after day to urge selective leaking of any federal investigation.
Despite insinuating there could be a leak, Grassley tried to make it clear that he was not actually encouraging the leak.
“I wouldn’t be encouraging it because if it’s a violation of law, I can’t be encouraging a violation of law,” he said, according to The Register. “This is kind of my own opinion. This is something I’ve heard.”