Add it to the list of investigations involving America's mayor.
The Justice Department's top watchdog confirmed Wednesday he's still investigating whether FBI agents in New York illegally leaked information about Hillary Clinton to Rudy Giuliani before the 2016 election.
Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee about his review of the FBI's investigation of possible coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign, Inspector General Michael Horowitz was asked by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., about an unrelated probe his office pursued about "leaks to Rudolph Giuliani and others" in 2016.
"We are very concerned about that," Horowitz said, noting that he listed off some of those potentially improper contacts in a report released last year reviewing the FBI's investigation of Clinton's email server. "Subsequent to that report, and this continues to this day, we are investigating those contacts."
However, Horowitz said his team is having a hard time determining the nature of the contacts.
"What's proving to be very hard is to prove the actual substance of the communications between the agents and the reporter, or the individuals, but we can prove the contacts," Horowitz said. "Under FBI policy, you need authorization if you're going to disclose information and have certain contacts."
Giuliani did not return a request for comment and neither did his attorney.
Days before ex-FBI Director James Comey said in October 2016 that he was reopening an investigation into Clinton's emails, Giuliani told reporters and others that he had "heard about" an upcoming announcement involving the former secretary of state and the Democratic presidential nominee.
That prompted accusations from Democrats that Giuliani had been given a heads-up from FBI agents working out of the field office in Manhattan. Giuliani, who served as the U.S. attorney for Manhattan in the 1980s, is known to still have plenty of contacts in law enforcement.
The investigation Horowitz is pursuing into the potential 2016 leaks is one of several federal probes targeting or involving Giuliani.
The former New York City mayor remains under investigation by his old U.S. attorney's office over his potential role in a campaign finance scheme perpetuated by his two criminally charged Ukraine scheme pals, Igor Fruman and Lev Parnas.
House impeachment investigators are separately probing Giuliani over his attempts to dig up dirt in Ukraine on President Donald Trump's political rivals. Giuliani refused to comply with a subpoena demanding that he testify and provide documents in the impeachment inquiry.
