The FBI has recommended that no charges be filed against Hillary Clinton in connection to her infamous State Department emails, but the agency says conduct was “extremely careless.”
The cloud of a criminal indictment lifted for Clinton on Tuesday, but if Republicans have any say in the matter, America will continue to hear about the “damn emails,” as Sen. Bernie Sanders labeled them.
During her time at the State Department, Clinton used a private server for official-related emails. While separate investigations have looked into how the arrangement might have avoided federal records law, the FBI was tasked with investigating whether Clinton’s conduct led to a mishandling of classified information, a federal crime.
FBI Director James Comey said charges were not appropriate in Clinton’s case because it lacked, among other factors: intentional and willful mishandling of classified information, indications of disloyalty to the U.S., or efforts to obstruct justice.
Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon said the campaign was glad the matter is now resolved.
But Comey was not done. As he discussed the details of an investigation that unfolded over the past year, he repeatedly admonished Clinton and her aides for their decisions.
From the beginning, Clinton claimed there was no classified information on her email server — especially anything that was marked as classified at the time it was sent. But Comey said agents found a “very small number” of emails with such markings and moreover said that even information not marked as classified should have been handled with better care.
“But even if information is not marked ‘classified’ in an email, participants who know or should know that the subject matter is classified are still obligated to protect it,” Comey said. “None of these emails should have been on any kind of unclassified system, but their presence is especially concerning because all of these emails were housed on unclassified personal servers not even supported by full-time security staff.”
Comey said while the agency could not prove Clinton’s emails were hacked, he conceded such an action was possible because evidence of an intrusion was unlikely to exist in the first place.
Iowa Republicans immediately jumped on the news, calling Clinton a liar and arguing it was only her status that allowed her to escape criminal charges.
“This whole investigation … has been rigged in Clinton’s favor, shows terrible judgment, and raises a major conflict of interest on the part of the Department of Justice,” said state GOP chairman Jeff Kaufmann in a prepared statement. “The American people are sick and tired of the countless lies by the Clintons, and the president should not be campaigning with someone under FBI investigation or someone who has blatantly disregarded the rules of his own administration.”
The final decision on charges rest with the Justice Department, but Attorney General Loretta Lynch has previously pledged to accept the FBI’s findings.
— by Brent Griffiths