; Whereas in a September 2015 meeting between then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch and then-Director Comey, the Attorney General instructed Director Comey to refer to the Clinton email investigation as a matter , thus watering down the severity of the investigation and aligning the FBI’s rhetoric with the messaging of the Clinton campaign; Whereas Cheryl Mills, who served as Counselor and Chief of Staff to Hillary Clinton during her entire tenure as United States Secretary of State, was offered immunity from prosecution by the FBI during this investigation in exchange for access to her laptop that contained many of the questionable emails; Whereas according to transcripts obtained by the Senate Judiciary Committee, former Director Comey was prepared to exonerate Hillary Clinton as early as April or May of 2016 when he began to draft a statement announcing the end of his investigation, before up to 17 key witnesses, including former Secretary Clinton and several of her closest aides, were interviewed; Whereas former Director Comey contradicted these transcripts when he stated during sworn testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on September 28, 2016, that he made the decision not to recommend criminal charges for Secretary Clinton after she was interviewed by the FBI on July 2, 2016; Whereas Director Comey, in the final draft of his statement, allowed FBI Agent Peter Strzok to replace grossly negligent , which is legally punishable under Federal law, with extremely careless , which is not legally punishable under Federal law; Whereas Federal law states gross negligence in handling the Nation’s intelligence can be punished criminally with prison time or fines ( 18 U.S.C. 793 , 798); Whereas on June 27, 2016, Attorney General Lynch had a covert meeting with former President Bill Clinton aboard her plane on the tarmac in Phoenix, Arizona; Whereas on July 5, 2016, Director Comey violated DOJ rules and unilaterally exonerated then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in a public statement to the media