WASHINGTON – Federal Bureau Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey on Tuesday said that the agency will recommend the Justice Department against filing criminal charges against Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton for using a private email server to conduct classified official communications, claiming that while her actions betrayed extreme carelessness, they lacked criminal intent.
In a statement, Comey said that Clinton’s usage of a private server for official emails was a careless action. At least 110 emails sent by Hillary Clinton contained classified information, he confirmed.
He went on to say that the Justice Department is free to make any decision in this case, however the FBI’s recommendation was that no charges should be filed against Clinton.
The development came two days after the FBI interviewed Hillary Clinton at its headquarters in Washington.
It was also followed by a reportedly “chance” meeting between Hillary’s husband, former President Bill Clinton, and the US Attorney General Loretta Lynch, at an airport. Following this meeting, Lynch said that the Justice Department would follow whatever the FBI recommended in the case.
The interview, which lasted three and a half hours, was part of an ongoing investigation into her use of a private email server for official communication while she was secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.
In an interview with MSNBC, Clinton claimed that she was happy to have been interviewed by the FBI, adding that she had volunteered for it.
“I have been answering questions about this issue for over a year,” she said, adding that she was ready to address the issue at any forum.
Hillary Clinton is set to be formally nominated by the Democrats as a candidate for the November 8 presidential election at the party’s forthcoming convention later this month.
The FBI was investigating whether Clinton’s move to run a private email server for official communication had jeopardized the security of classified information or not for over a year.
Several hundred emails of Hillary Clinton have so far been released by the State Department on the directions of the Supreme Court. She also faced an hours-long hearing at the Senate for her actions.
