Newly filed court documents reveal that former FBI Director James Comey wrote a handwritten note in 2016 referencing “HRC plans to tie Trump” and “HRC health,” which investigators discovered earlier this year locked inside a long-unused FBI safe. Dated September 26, 2016, the note was found by an internal review team in early 2025, according to evidence in the Justice Department’s criminal case against Comey. The note, on FBI letterhead from Comey’s desk, appeared just weeks before the 2016 election and 19 days after the CIA sent Comey an intelligence referral alleging Hillary Clinton’s campaign had approved a plan to link Donald Trump to Russia. Prosecutors allege Comey later concealed this referral and related materials, obstructing internal and congressional investigations. Comey was indicted by a federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, on September 25, facing one count of making false statements and another of obstruction of justice.
The note was found inside Room 9582, a secure compartmented information facility (SCIF) at FBI headquarters that had been largely unused for years. The internal review team was tasked with reforming bureau records and classification procedures following whistleblower complaints in early 2025. Investigators also discovered the original CIA Counterintelligence Operational Lead (CIOL) and access logs showing unusual activity in the room during the presidential transition, raising questions about who handled sensitive materials. A July 2025 internal memo indicates the FBI’s Public Corruption Unit formally requested an investigation into the concealment or removal of documents related to both the Clinton and Trump inquiries.
The filings contradict Comey’s 2020 Senate testimony denying knowledge of the alleged Clinton plan intelligence. Investigators also recovered five burn bags containing hundreds of pages related to Crossfire Hurricane, the FBI’s 2016 probe into alleged Trump-Russia ties. The DOJ filing describes these findings as evidence of a “broader pattern of concealment” by senior officials, suggesting an effort to obscure awareness of the Clinton plan from oversight entities. Legal analysts note that the handwritten note could be pivotal in proving obstruction if prosecutors can establish intent, and investigators are reviewing whether others in the FBI participated in sequestering or removing materials. The filing concludes that the records “reinforce a fact pattern of alleged obstruction and broader conspiracy” within the FBI during the 2016 election period.
