Comey disappointed Republicans by only rebuking Clinton, not recommending charges against her, on Tuesday for what he called “extremely careless” handling of classified information, while using private e-mail servers for business.
Advertisement
During the hearing, Chaffetz, one of the most influential Republicans in the House, said that he would formally ask Congress to investigate whether Clinton lied when she was questioned for over three hours last on July 2 at the Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters. Clinton had said publicly she never sent or received any classified information. First let me say this, FBI Director Comey is human, puts his trousers on one leg at a time and makes mistakes ( boy does he), the same as you and me. “Given that combination of factors, we assess it is possible that hostile actors gained access to Secretary Clinton’s personal email account”.
FBI Director James Comey pushed back against claims that General David Petraeus committed a lesser crime regarding the handling of classified information.
In another potential political headache for Clinton, Judicial Watch, the conservative watchdog group, on Friday asked a USA judge in Washington for permission to question her under oath in its long-running legal pursuit of records relating to top aide Huma Abedin’s overlapping employments by the State Department, the Clinton Foundation and an outside consulting firm.
Republicans, including Clinton’s White House rival Donald Trump, have cried foul over the lack of charges, alleging that Clinton’s influence as a prominent politician helped her escape criminal proceedings.
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi (D-California) dismissed the latest Republican move as purely political. Comey specifically said Clinton was, without question, guilty of B when he stated Clinton was “extremely careless” – which is one legal definition of gross negligence.
Comey said the decision whether or not to prosecute hinged on determining whether or not Clinton sought to break the law at the time.
Of some 30,000 emails Clinton turned over to the FBI, Comey said 110 contained classified information – Clinton had said none was classified at the time they were sent. “I do not believe that they did anything that in any way, they believed, was inappropriate”.
Unlike the crassly partisan Benghazi investigation by a Republican-dominated congressional panel, the issues exposed in the email inquiry are real.
Comey’s only salvation is that he refers the Clinton Foundation for Grand Jury action!
In her interview Friday Clinton deflected some of the blame toward “people in government, mostly in the State Department” with whom she communicated “who did not believe they were sending any material that was classified”.
Comey said that question was “harder” to answer, but that “work-related emails” were discovered in “slack space”.
The FBI will find it hard not to recommend prosecution.
Advertisement
“A question about sophistication came up earlier, whether she was sophisticated enough to understand what a “C” means”, said Comey.
