“I do not believe they were careless”, Clinton said. That evidence did not exist in this case, Comey said. “Nobody knew I was going to do it, including the press”.
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At PolitiFact, our policy is that we fact-check statements and claims using the information available at the time.
Early on during Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz’s opening questions, he asked Director Comey if the FBI investigated whether Hillary Clinton lied under oath. She had every opportunity to present an accurate accounting in comments to the public and voters.
The poll also found that she won the support of 16 per cent Republicans.
Maloney, the Democratic representative from New York’s 12th district, was among numerous congressmen who probed Comey with questions that have been raised over the controversial recommendation, including whether Clinton lied under oath.
Separately, the State Department is reopening its internal investigation of possible mishandling of classified information by Clinton and top aides.
Clinton was secretary of state until early 2013. Such indiscriminate handling of material “is especially concerning because all of these emails were housed on unclassified personal servers not even supported by full-time security staff, like those found” at departments and agencies throughout the government, Comey said. And a vast quantity of classified information. Most of these emails, however, did not contain markings clearly delineating their status.
Petraeus, he said, retained a “vast quantity” of classified information and then lied to the Federal Bureau of Investigation about it. Comey initially said the documents had been found in Petraeus’ attic, later correcting himself to say they’d been found in a desk. This is a regular practice when documents are reviewed for release, according to transparency experts.
“We don’t watch on TV and say, ‘We ought to investigate that, Joe Smith said this in front of the committee, ‘ ” he added.
Comey added that some work-related emails are still out there, but FBI investigators were unable to find them.
About 2,000 additional emails were “up-classified” to “Confidential”.
He said the Justice Department has applied that 1917 law only once over the years; and knowing the Justice Department as he does, “No reasonable prosecutor would bring the second case in 100 years focused on gross negligence”, Comey said.
She also said she only used one mobile device for emails and turned over all of her work-related emails to the State Department. If she was traveling, she used other secure channels. Clinton has said she did not knowingly send or receive classified information through her private email server.
“If the system is fair and equitable, then they should all have difficulty maintaining or obtaining a security clearance in the future”, said Mark Zaid, a Washington D.C. -based attorney who specializes in national security matters. “Is there any effect for an attorney rifling through Hillary Clinton’s emails without a security clearance?”
Clinton said, “I never received nor sent any material that was marked classified”.
We rate Clinton’s statement False.
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“I see evidence of great carelessness, but I do not see evidence that is sufficient to establish that Secretary Clinton or those with whom she was corresponding both talked about classified information on email and knew when they did they were doing something that was against the law”, Comey told the congressional hearing.
