FBI Closes Clinton Passport Inquiry : Investigation: Officials find ‘no evidence’ of tampering with files. Missing items were bank check, copy of birth certificate and photo.

The FBI said Friday it had found “no evidence” that Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton’s passport files had been tampered with, ending an investigation that had fueled Republican attacks on the patriotism and credibility of the Democratic presidential candidate.

The FBI announced the conclusion of its inquiry in a statement that also said the agency contemplated no further involvement in the matter.

“It has been determined that there is no evidence that tampering occurred,” the statement said.

Sources said the bureau believes that the items missing from the file that caused a State Department official to become suspicious were a bank check that paid the passport fee, a copy of a birth certificate and a passport photograph--all routine items that are part of the passport application process.

The announcement by the FBI, which did not elaborate on the findings, marks the end of an episode that began last month when a State Department employee was responding to Freedom of Information Act requests from three news organizations that wanted access to Clinton’s passport file.

An employee looking at the file spotted staple holes in Clinton’s passport application, suggesting that something had once been attached to the document and had subsequently been removed.

The matter was referred to the State Department’s inspector general, who decided it was so sensitive that it should be turned over to the Justice Department.

Justice Department officials, who were informed of the matter on Oct. 2, called in the FBI. Agents and supervisors were summoned for weekend work in what one source characterized as “a full-court press” investigation. Within two days, word of the sensitive inquiry was published in Newsweek magazine.

Sources familiar with the investigation said it was made more difficult by the condition of the records and because the Passport Office does not keep a complete list of people who have handled the documents.

But in the end, the staple holes were determined to have been left by the removal of the bank check, birth certificate and the extra photograph, according to sources.

Times staff writer Doyle McManus contributed to this story.