FBI: Clinton 'Extremely Careless' in Email Scandal but No Charges
No criminal charges. The long awaited FBI email scandal decision handed Hillary Clinton a political victory while providing opponents damaging information to use against her in the court of public opinion.
"Although we did not find clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws in governing the handling of classified information, there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive highly classified information," FBI Director James Comey said in a press conference.
Comey says they found evidence of potential violations, but recommended no charges because of no precedent for charging someone under similar circumstances.
Yet critics quickly pointed to similar cases where people did face legal consequences.
A yr ago, Comey's FBI went after Navy guy for removing classified info, even tho FBI found no evidence of intent https://t.co/V7jabxmVwJ
— David Sirota (@davidsirota) July 5, 2016
Petraeus was charged with a crime for keeping classified material in a NOTEBOOK in his house. Hillary sent it on unprotected servers.
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) July 5, 2016
Comey claims those cases are different.
"All the cases prosecuted involved some combination of clearly intentional and willful mishandling of classified information; or vast quantities of materials exposed in such a way as to support an inference of intentional misconduct; or indications of disloyalty to the United States; or efforts to obstruct justice. We do not see those things here," Comey said.
House Speaker Paul Ryan disagreed saying, "This announcement defies explantion, no one should be above the law."
Republican presidential rival Donald Trump also took to Twitter calling the system "rigged."
Clinton's day also got better after hopping on Air Force One with President Barack Obama for their first joint campaign appearance.
While she did not personally address the email scandal news, her campaign released the following statement:
"We are pleased that the career officials handling this case have determined that no further action by the Department is appropriate. As the secretary has long said, it was a mistake to use her personal email and she would not do it again. We are glad this matter is now resolved," she said.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch said last week following her controversial meeting with Bill Clinton that she would accept the decision of the FBI director and other prosecutors, bringing the legality of this issue to an end.
But Comey's comments on Clinton's carelessness and bad judgment will undoubtedly haunt her race to the White House.
