Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced Wednesday that she has accepted the FBI’s recommendation not to charge Hillary Clinton for transmitting classified emails on her private server. The Representatives will also question State Department Inspector General Steve Linick, and Intelligence Community Inspector General Charles McCullogh III later today. Ryan, who was the Republican vice presidential candidate in 2012, said Director of National Intelligence James Clapper should deny Clinton access to classified information during the campaign, although presidential candidates normally get such access once they are formally nominated.
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There you have it: elect Hillary Clinton and make it impossible to punish people who violate national security protection laws. “What I can assure the American people is that this investigation was done honestly, confidently and independently”. But he suggested that Comey had contributed to that by leaving “a perceived gap” between his public criticism of Clinton and his conclusion not to prosecute. Whether she did so without understanding the illegality of what she was doing – which served as the basis for Mr. Comey’s recommendation that no criminal charges be brought against her – depends on one’s faith in her credibility. “But that’s just not the case”. 18 U.S.C. 793(f) says you’re guilty and punishable by fine or up to 10 years(!) in prison merely if you’re grossly negligent in mishandling that info.
“Director Comey is a man of impeccable integrity, ” said Plaskett, who once worked with the director during a previous tenure at the Justice Department.
While there was “great evidence of carelessness, ” Comey asserted that the case did not meet the threshold for prosecution.
“Those who have mishandled classified information have had their security clearances revoked, lost their jobs, faced fines, and even been sent to prison, yet Hillary Clinton is being allowed to play by a different set of rules”, he alleged. But Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid dismissed as political the Republican calls for Clinton to stop getting classified information.
Meadows found Comey’s response surprising. He also revealed several facts that completely contradict what Clinton has been maintaining. “Individual accounts might be less secure, but Google does regular security checks and updates”.
Clinton’s campaign chided Chaffetz for apparently breaking with his earlier pledge to accept the FBI’s recommendation.
Throughout the hearing, Republican members repeatedly pressed Comey to assess the accuracy of Clinton’s previous public statements, now in conflict with the FBI’s findings, about her management of information, including her assertions that she never sent or received material marked classified. And it made clear that Clinton used many devices to send and receive email despite her statements that she set up her email system so that she only needed to carry one.
“Before this investigation, I probably would have said, ‘yes, ‘” Comey acknowledged.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters he had faith that Comey would protect the independence of the FBI’s investigation even as he was probed by Congress, noting Obama administration officials had kept their cool even during “the most unfair congressional inquiries”.
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Congressman Mick Mulvaney (R-South Carolina) responded, “Isn’t she an original classification source?”, meaning that Clinton was responsible for assigning a level of classification to information as Secretary of Stat.
