Mr Comey, who said on Tuesday he would not recommend that the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee face criminal charges, was asked at the hearing if Mrs Clinton should face administrative punishment for the way she handled her email.
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Comey had disappointed some Republicans by only rebuking Clinton, not recommending charges against her, for what he called her “extremely careless” handling of classified information while using private email servers.
On Thursday FBI director James Comey refused to comment when the chairman of a congressional committee asked him if the Clinton Foundation was still under scrutiny from federal law enforcement.
“So you have obstruction of justice, you have intentional misconduct and a vast quantity of information”, Comey said.
Other Democrats echoed praise for Comey’s integrity and objectivity, and pointed out the fact that Republicans were equally praiseworthy in the weeks leading up to the announcement.
“He knew what he was doing violated the law”, Comey said of Petraeus, adding that the retired four-star general, revered for his service in Iraq and Afghanistan, was not charged with obstruction of justice despite lying about his actions.
Mr. Comey continues to shred what’s left of his reputation as a fearless tough guy eager to do the right thing. Instead, he said, the body of three emails contained markings – the letter C in parentheses – that indicated the information within that paragraph was confidential, the lowest level of classification.
“I think there is a legitimate concern that there is a double standard”, Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz declared.
Until then, Volkey says she could also be sanctioned.
Arguing the Comey made clear to everyone that the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Justice system were not rigged, Wallace began winding down her thoughts by admitting that “what the Republicans got out of today was wall-to-wall coverage of a hearing where it was not in dispute whether or not Hillary Clinton lied to the public every time she’s been asked over the previous year about her e-mail practices.” .
Republicans have cried foul, saying that Clinton is not being held to the same legal standards as ordinary Americans.
The committee’s top Democrat, Elijah Cummings of Maryland, accused Republicans of politicizing the investigation. 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.
In answer to questions from Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the Republican-led House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Comey confirmed that eight notebooks Petraeus had kept at his home included the identities of covert officers, US intelligence capabilities and notes on discussions with the president.
“There are a lot of unanswered questions here”, Ryan told Fox News on Tuesday.
The hearing took place as Mr Trump met with Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill to get them behind his candidacy, discussing a variety of issues, including his campaign style.
Later Thursday, the State Department said it would reopen its internal investigation of whether Clinton’s use of a private email account and server compromised her handling of classified material. But he also said there was no evidence anyone willfully or intentionally mishandled classified information and that “no reasonable prosecutor” would pursue such a case.
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Comey, a registered Republican for years though he said he now is not registered in a political party, served as deputy attorney general in the George W. Bush administration.
