Chaffetz also sent a letter to Comey directly on Monday, demanding the FBI’s file on the Clinton investigation – including interview transcripts, documents collected, and any other analysis conducted in the court of the probe.
Advertisement
The solution, he says, is to get a Justice Department that “follows what the law says – not what they wish the law was”.
Only one thing will save the American people.
Monday, America’s “law and order candidate”, Republican Donald Trump pledged to crack down on Department of Veterans Affairs employees who fail to serve our Veterans.
Clinton’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Chaffetz said following the FBI’s year-long investigation, it shouldn’t be hard to compare her testimony with what she told the agency.
It’s unclear whether Justice is required to investigate the referral’s allegations or how long that would take.
Until now, nobody questioned the probity of Comey, a longtime prosecutor and former No. 2 official in George W. Bush’s Justice Department. But Comey and Lynch have repeatedly defended their decision as motivated by the law rather than by politics. Trump has also cribbed the Nixonian phrase “silent majority” to describe his supporters ― who, like Nixon’s, are largely white and middle class.
US criminal code relating to documents containing classified information says a crime has been committed when a government official, “knowingly removes such documents or materials without authority and with the intent to retain such documents or materials at an unauthorized location”.
I’ve been covering the case for more than two years.
Mrs Clinton said last week that she exchanged emails with about 300 people, mostly at the State Department, who were experienced with handling classified information. Comey said to open a criminal investigation, he would need a referral from Congress.
Lynch’s testimony Tuesday at the House Judiciary Committee comes after Comey faced intense questioning from Republicans in a almost five-hour hearing last week about his conclusion that Clinton hadn’t violated the law.
For Trump, the speech was a departure from sometimes-erratic performances following the FBI’s decision last week not to seek charges against Clinton over her handling of classified information as secretary of state.
After Mr Comey’s remarks, Mr Ryan sent a letter to director of national intelligence James Clapper, suggesting that Mrs Clinton be denied access to such information during her presidential run. The director, however, said he was not recommending criminal charges. “There were a small number of portion markings”.
If she were still at the State Department, she could be getting fired for being, as the Federal Bureau of Investigation director told Congress, “extremely careless” with top-secret information. He asserted there was no “clear evidence Clinton or her colleagues meant to violate laws governing the handling of classified information”.
With Clinton, one of the key numbers is three – the total number of emails found on her home computers that were marked as classified, Comey says.
Advertisement
While Clinton has defended her practice as a matter of personal convenience similar to her predecessors, 57 percent in the poll say the issue worries them about how she might handle responsibilities if elected president, while 39 percent say it’s not related to how she would perform as president.
