On Thursday, the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General announced that it would evaluate the FBI’s handling of its investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email use. Led by DoJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz, the process is essentially an internal audit to assess whether the FBI and DoJ followed guidelines and complied with all policies. The probe could lead to recommendations for management and operational reforms at the FBI. It could even prompt eventual firings or legal action. But while it can assess whatever damage the FBI’s actions may or may not have done, it won’t be able to undo it.

In addition to evaluating the actions of FBI Director James Comey—including a letter he sent to Congress 11 days before the election that set off incendiary speculation—the investigation will also probe whether FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe should have recused himself in the Clinton case, the possibility that classified information was improperly disclosed to the public, and the strange timing of a series of Freedom of Information Act request document releases. Comey said in a statement on Thursday, “I am grateful to the Department of Justice’s IG for taking on this review. He is professional and independent and the FBI will cooperate fully with him and his office.”

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“The DOJ IG has conducted investigations across the board,” says Shirin Sinnar, an associate professor at Stanford Law School who studies the role of Inspectors General in the context of national security conduct. “They’ve not shied away from investigating allegations of higher-level misconduct, but they also assess all kinds of other issues across the political divide.”

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Still, Comey has promised cooperation. And precedent seems to be on the OIG’s side. “IGs have very broad sweep of authority to gather information,” Sinnar says. “I think that’s a sign of the bipartisan support for IGs.”

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Still, experts are optimistic that the case will move forward, with Horowitz at the helm. There are “extremely strong norms against the removal of IGs,” Sinnar says. And whatever partisan tensions surround this particular case, “IGs are really not politicized,” says Kathryn Newcomer, director of GW University’s School of Public Policy and Public Administration. “Their ability to make good change in their organization is totally dependent upon their reputation for integrity and objectivity.” Newcomer adds that Horowitz has a reputation as “one of the best IGs in government.”