FBI Director James Comey announced on Tuesday that the agency would not recommend charges against Hillary Clinton in the criminal investigation looking into alleged misconduct over her use of a private email server while she served as secretary of state.
“Our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case,” Comey said. “We cannot support bringing criminal charges based on these facts.”
Comey noted that there was “no intentional misconduct” in Clinton’s server use, but he said “there is evidence that [Clinton and her aides] were extremely careless in their handling of very classified information.”
The investigation’s conclusion comes after the FBI interviewed the presumptive Democratic nominee for more than three hours on Saturday. A separate probe by the State Department inspector general concluded in May that Clinton’s email practices violated long-established rules under the Federal Records Act.
The revelation that Clinton did not use secure email while she was secretary of state—and that she destroyed thousands of emails she and her aides deemed personal—was first reported by the New York Times in March 2015, a discovery that came during the Benghazi investigation. Her use of a private email server and the ongoing investigations have dogged her campaign for president and been a source of ammunition from Republicans and their presumptive nominee, Donald Trump.
Over the weekend, the real estate magnate lashed out at the FBI and accused the administration of colluding to allow Clinton to walk free:
Crooked Hillary Clinton knew that her husband wanted to meet with the U.S.A.G. to work out a deal. The system is totally rigged & corrupt!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 3, 2016
Crooked Hillary will NEVER be able to handle the complexities and danger of ISIS – it will just go on forever. We need change!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2016
Crooked Hillary Clinton is “guilty as hell” but the system is totally rigged and corrupt! Where are the 33,000 missing e-mails?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2016
After it was revealed that Attorney General Loretta Lynch met privately with former President Bill Clinton last week—a conversation that some conservatives pointed to as evidence of an attempted cover-up—Lynch said she would accept the recommendations from the FBI and career Justice Department prosecutors regarding the question of criminal prosecution. Today Comey noted that the decision to prosecute is now up to career prosecutors within the Justice Department.
