In this week’s fact-checking segment, CNN’s Jake Tapper looks at President Donald Trump’s claim that Hillary Clinton “lied many times to the FBI and nothing happened to her” — suggesting Clinton was treated differently than his former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
As we wrote, then-FBI director James Comey told Congress last year that there was “no basis to conclude she lied to the FBI.”
Trump made his remarks about Clinton, Flynn and the FBI on Dec. 4 — three days after Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI during its ongoing investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.
In his remarks, the president also expressed surprise that the FBI did not put Clinton under oath when she was interviewed last year about her email use while secretary of state. He claimed it was “the most incredible thing anyone has ever seen.” It’s not.
FBI policy does not require its agents to conduct interviews under oath, and three former FBI agents told us that it is standard procedure not to place interviewees under oath. It doesn’t matter, anyway, because it is a crime to lie to the FBI whether or not an oath is administered.
The video, which can be found on CNN’s website, is part of our fact-checking collaboration with CNN’s “State of the Union.” Previous videos can be found on our website.