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The FBI recommended Hillary Clinton shouldn't face charges over her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state. VPC
FBI Director James Comey makes a statement at FBI headquarters in Washington on July 5, 2016.(Photo: Cliff Owen, AP)
WASHINGTON — The FBI recommended Tuesday that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton should not face criminal charges over her use of a private<span style="color: Red;">*</span>email server as secretary of State, even though<span style="color: Red;">*</span>she and aides were "extremely careless" in handling classified<span style="color: Red;">*</span>information.
While FBI Director James Comey criticized Clinton and her aides for carelessly handling classified, top-secret information, he said there is no evidence she intended to do so, the basis for criminal charges.
"Although there<span style="color: Red;">*</span>is evidence of potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information," Comey said in a 15-minute statement explaining the investigation, "our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case."
Comey said his agency acted apolitically<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and went where the facts took them.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>While, technically, the FBI makes recommendations to Justice Department prosecutors over potential charges, Attorney General Loretta Lynch has said she would accept the bureau's views<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in this case.
"In looking back at our investigations into mishandling of removal of classified information, we cannot find a case that would support bringing criminal charges on these facts," Comey said.
USA TODAY
Read Comey's full statement on Clinton email system
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump criticized the FBI's decision, tweeting that "the system is rigged" and citing charges brought against Gen. David Petraeus over handling of classified information.
"General Petraeus got in trouble for far less," Trump said. "Very very unfair! As usual, bad judgment."
In another tweet, Trump noted<span style="color: Red;">*</span>that the FBI director "said Crooked Hillary compromised our national security. No charges. Wow."
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Trump: FBI decision on Clinton emails was 'rigged'
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GOP officials blast Clinton over FBI email findings
The Clinton campaign said it was pleased with the decision made by "career officials" at the FBI.
"As the Secretary has long said, it was a mistake to use her personal email and she would not do it again," said Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon. "We are glad that this matter is now resolved."
Clinton, who campaigned later in the day with President Obama in North Carolina,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>did not address Comey’s statement or the FBI’s findings during a morning speech at the National Education Association in Washington.
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Timeline: Hillary Clinton email investigation
While opting against recommending charges, Comey did take Clinton and State Department officials to task for their procedures in handling sensitive information.
"Although we did not find clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information, there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information," he said.
Comey said that, of the 30,000 or so Clinton emails provided by the State Department, 110 messages<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in 52<span style="color: Red;">*</span>email chains were<span style="color: Red;">*</span>determined to have contained classified information at the time they were sent or received.
Eight of those email chains contained information that was top secret at the time they were sent or received, the FBI reported; 36 of the email chains contained secret information at the time; and eight contained lesser confidential information.
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Part of the investigation dealt with whether foreign adversaries tried to hack Clinton's private email system, Comey said. In recent years, the Chinese and Russian governments are among those who have been accused of prying into American secrets.
It is possible that “hostile actors” were able to access Clinton’s personal email account, Comey said, but there was no “direct evidence."
The director said that the yearlong inquiry, which has shadowed Clinton throughout the primary season, was made "more complicated'' because the former secretary used several different email servers and administrators during her tenure at the State Department. The reconstruction of those networks, Comey said, was akin to making sense of a "huge<span style="color: Red;">*</span>jigsaw puzzle'' whose pieces had been scattered across the floor.
"The effect was that millions of email fragments end up unsorted in the server's unused or slack space,'' Comey said, describing the task as different servers were decommissioned and software removed. "We searched through all of it to see what was there, and what parts of the puzzle could be put back together.''
Comey said the evidence supports the conclusion that "any reasonable person in Secretary Clinton's position or in the position of those government employees with whom she was corresponding about these matters should have known that an unclassified system was no place for that conversation."
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David Axelrod, a longtime political adviser to<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Obama, said Clinton's email was "ill-conceived and reckless," but "no indictment and no indication of criminal intent is an important line of demarcation."
The issue will remain political, he added.
Citing Comey's "rebuke," Axelrod said "the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Republicans will use it as a cudgel."
The case is now "part of the record voters will consider," Axelrod said. "But the conclusion lifts the cloud of indictment no candidacy could have sustained."
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., meanwhile, said the FBI decision "defies explanation," and could undermine the rule of law.
"No one should be above the law," Ryan said.
The FBI director's<span style="color: Red;">*</span>previously unannounced statement came<span style="color: Red;">*</span>three days after FBI agents interviewed Clinton about her use of private email while secretary of State.
USA TODAY
FBI, Clinton talk for 3½ hours over emails sent on private server
After the Saturday interview,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill said the former secretary of State was "pleased to have had the opportunity to assist the Department of Justice in bringing this review to a conclusion."
Trump and other Republicans protested a recent meeting between Lynch and former president Bill Clinton, the candidate's husband. The two said they discussed personal matters, not the investigation.
Federal officials said the timing of the director's announcement — an unprecedented publicly released recommendation in the midst of an investigation —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>was not related to Clinton’s campaign appearance with Obama or<span style="color: Red;">*</span>last week's disclosures about the unplanned meeting between Bill Clinton and Lynch on the tarmac of Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport.
Disclosure of the meeting<span style="color: Red;">*</span>prompted Lynch to announce Friday that she would accept the recommendation by the FBI director and career prosecutors. The Justice Department declined to comment on the timing of a final announcement in the matter.
"I know there will be intense public debate in the wake of this recommendation, as there was throughout this investigation,'' Comey said. "What I can assure the American people is that this investigation was done competently, honestly and independently. No outside influence of any kind was brought to bear.''
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TIMELINE OF CLINTON'S EMAIL CONTROVERSYFBI: No Charges In Clinton Email Case | 0:36FBI Director James Comey says there is evidence that Secretary Hillary Clinton's email practices were careless, but nothing to suggest criminal wrongdoing. (July 5) AP
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TIMELINE OF CLINTON'S EMAIL CONTROVERSYFBI advises no criminal charges for Clinton | 1:08The FBI recommended Hillary Clinton shouldn't face charges over her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state. VPC
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TIMELINE OF CLINTON'S EMAIL CONTROVERSYLynch promises to be impartial in Clinton email probe | 1:03Loretta Lynch says the investigation into Hillary Clinton's email usage while Clinton was secretary of State won't be affected by Obama's endorsement. Video provided by Newsy Newslook
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TIMELINE OF CLINTON'S EMAIL CONTROVERSYFBI director recommends against charging Clinton over Emails | 0:34But FBI Director James Comey did say there's evidence Hillary Clinton and her staff were 'extremely careless' in their handling of emails.Video provided by Newsy Newslook
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TIMELINE OF CLINTON'S EMAIL CONTROVERSYClinton likely won't face charges over private email Server | 1:56The FBI interviewed Hillary Clinton for three hours on Saturday, but a new report says she isn't expected to face any charges.Video provided by Newsy Newslook
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TIMELINE OF CLINTON'S EMAIL CONTROVERSYThe status of Hillary Clinton's Email probe | 0:40Here is a look at the status of the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while Secretary of State. Clinton spoke with the FBI for over three hours on Saturday, July 2. USA TODAY
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TIMELINE OF CLINTON'S EMAIL CONTROVERSYState dept. probe finds email issues run much deeper than Clinton | 2:05The inspector general found \u0022longstanding systemic weaknesses related to electronic record and communications\u0022 at the State Department.Video provided by Newsy Newslook
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TIMELINE OF CLINTON'S EMAIL CONTROVERSYWH: Facts Over Politics in Clinton Email Probe | 1:15White House spokesman Josh Earnest wouldn't say whether the meeting between Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former President Bill Clinton was appropriate, only that Lynch understands that the rule of law is paramount, as does Obama. (July 1) AP
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TIMELINE OF CLINTON'S EMAIL CONTROVERSYClinton faulted on emails by State Department audit | 1:44Hillary Clinton and her team ignored clear guidance from the State Department that her email setup broke federal standards, according to an Inspector General's report released Wednesday. AP
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TIMELINE OF CLINTON'S EMAIL CONTROVERSYFBI's Clinton email probe is questioning everybody but Clinton | 0:54The FBI has yet to reach out to Hillary Clinton to schedule an interview with her. Video provided by Newsy Newslook
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TIMELINE OF CLINTON'S EMAIL CONTROVERSY22 of Hillary Clinton's emails deemed 'top secret' | 2:06The Obama administration is confirming that Hillary Clinton's unsecured home email server contained some closely guarded secrets, including material requiring one of the highest levels of classification. AP Reporter Matt Lee explains. (Jan. 29) AP
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TIMELINE OF CLINTON'S EMAIL CONTROVERSYClinton: Most Of My Work Not Done On Email | 1:33Rep. Susan Brooks is using a collection of emails as a way to suggest that the Obama administration and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton lost interest in Libya in the months before to deadly attacks in Benghazi in September 2012. (Oc AP
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TIMELINE OF CLINTON'S EMAIL CONTROVERSYHillary Clinton: Most of my work was not done by email | 2:58Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton faced questions regarding her emails during the House Benghazi panel. Clinton stressed to the panel that most of her work as the Secretary of State was not done through email. VPC
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TIMELINE OF CLINTON'S EMAIL CONTROVERSYSanders 'sick and tired' of Clinton's 'damn emails' | 2:16Sen. Bernie Sanders came to Hillary Clinton's defense after she was asked about her private emails during the CNN Democratic Debate. USA TODAY
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TIMELINE OF CLINTON'S EMAIL CONTROVERSYClinton Emails Recovered By the FBI: Reports | 0:43FBI investigators have reportedly recovered work-related and personal emails from Hillary Clinton's time as secretary of state that she claimed had been deleted from a private computer server. Clinton the frontrunner for the 2016 Democratic presiden Wochit
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TIMELINE OF CLINTON'S EMAIL CONTROVERSYHillary Clinton's emails: deleted vs. wiped | 1:22Hillary Clinton's deleted State Department emails might still be recoverable, according to the company that managed her server.
Video provided by Newsy Newslook
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