For now, this much is clear: the State Department’s inspector general — or its acting inspector general since Cookie Krongard resigned in scandal — will be handling the investigation into the passport breaches for the foreseeable future.
Although the State Department’s inspector general has contacted the Justice Department about the breaches, that doesn’t mean the Justice Department is actually investigating, State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack explained today during a briefing:
I wouldn’t characterize this as a joint investigation. I’ll let the DOJ characterize their level and nature of involvement.We have invited them in to participate in the way that they see fit, again, for the reasons that I talked about: as a hedge against any potential further action that might be required that would require the DOJ to take a look at whether or not they would take any action. Again, that’s completely their call.
It’s just a way of ensuring that there is openness and transparency, and that if there is any need for further action, beyond just the I.G. investigation, that the Department of Justice would have the option of looking at what it is they would or would not do, having had access to all the information and how we did the investigation from the very beginning.