She strongly disputed the assertion by FBI Director James Comey that she and her aides were “extremely careless” with classified materials, and instead appeared to be putting the responsibility to her State Department staff.
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He said that given the sophistication of foreign hackers and the fact that hackers did infiltrate commercial email accounts of people who emailed with Clinton, “we assess that we would be unlikely to see such direct evidence”.
Hillary Clinton deflected the Federal Bureau of Investigation director’s assertion that she and her aides were “extremely careless” in handling classified information while she was secretary of state, saying the officials who exchanged messages with her were experienced in dealing with confidential material.
Committee Chairman Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, pressed Comey on whether any of Clinton’s statements rose to the level of a crime, including her testimony before the House Select Committee on Benghazi, during which she said unequivocally there were never any emails, sent or received, that were marked classified. The panel’s chairman, Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., said lawmakers may seek a federal investigation into whether Clinton lied to the committee in testimony previous year. “Criminal referrals to the Department of Justice are very serious matters, although they are not always treated as such by some Members of Congress”, Cummings wrote.
Ryan also says that House Republicans had a productive meeting with their candidate, Donald Trump Thursday morning.
“We want to make sure what needs to be investigated is investigated”, said Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.
Democrats on the panel largely backed Comey despite the tough remarks about her “careless” handling of classified information. “They, I believe, did not believe they were sending any material that was classified”, she said.
Comey said Clinton’s handling of classified emails was “extremely careless” but isn’t a case of gross negligence.
Testifying about Hillary Clinton’s emails on Thursday, Comey was questioned about the case of Petraeus in which he was prosecuted for mishandling classified information.
Although Kirby declined to provide specific information about the State Department’s latest review, he said it would aim to be “as transparent as possible about our results, while complying with our various legal obligations”. There’s no doubt that the work-related e-mails that were removed electronically from the – the e-mail system.
“As a former vice presidential nominee, I am keenly aware that Secretary Clinton is set to begin receiving classified intelligence briefings after the Democratic National Convention”, Ryan said, drawing on his experience campaigning with Mitt Romney during the 2012 election.
“So let’s get this straight: This is going to be an investigation of the decision that is an investigation of the emails that was part of the investigation of Benghazi”, she told reporters. Comey said he could not prove criminal intent and the conduct stopped short of a standard that would allow prosecutors to proceed without proving intent. “How long can this go on?”
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Chaffetz said that if a regular person had done what Clinton was suspected of doing, they would have been arrested.
