Update, 12:45: Clinton’s staff has issued a statement.
JUST IN: statement from Clinton press secretary @brianefallon on Comey pic.twitter.com/0ubTwPQDKo
— Gabriel Debenedetti (@gdebenedetti) July 5, 2016
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Although the FBI maintains that then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton shared “thousands” of classified and secret emails through a series of personal servers and email accounts, the agency will not recommend the DOJ issue charges.
The FBI claims that, according to their investigation, Clinton did not have any specific intent to share classified information or to violate the State Department’s rules and regulations. She was, according to FBI Director James Comey, just “extremely careless” with the messages she sent and received through a series of private servers.
The FBI’s investigation focused on whether Clinton knowingly and willfully stored classified and “Top Secret” information on private email servers, and whether those servers were compromised by hackers. The investigation focused on several servers, as the FBI discovered that Clinton regularly commissioned and de-commissioned servers, updating and deleting old email accounts without archiving information.
Investigators discovered that Clinton had sent approximately 110 classified emails in 52 separate email chains that Clinton turned over to the State Department. Eight of those chains were considered “Top Secret.” Not all the chains were marked but, as Director Comey pointed out, those transmitting the information should have recognized the messages as containing classified information.
Oddly, the FBI did find 2,000 additional “work related” emails that Clinton didn’t turn over to the State Department, claiming that they couldn’t figure out exactly how Clinton’s lawyers were determining which emails to turn over to State’s inspector general. And while they didn’t find any evidence that “hostile” actors gained access to Clinton’s servers, Comey seemed to say it was something the FBI could safely assumed happened pretty regularly.
While the FBI claims that their investigation does “support a conclusion that Clinton should have known that she was putting classified information in danger,” they insist that Clinton should not be prosecuted, generally under the theory that Clinton is missing the requisite intent necessary to be charged. So Clinton is, simply put, apparently just a completely reckless and totally inept individual when it comes to government business, but not deliberately treasonous.
Comey says “no reasonable prosecutor” would take the case, but some lawyers familiar with DOJ regulations disagreed.
It is hard to square Comey's comments on intent with the gross negligence standard of 18 U.S.C. § 793(f).
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) July 5, 2016
Clinton’s campaign has yet to respond, but they will have at least one talking point to alter.
Remember Clinton said ZERO emails she sent or received were classified at the time. https://t.co/nrYwHCPwpq
— Chris Cillizza (@TheFix) July 5, 2016
You can watch the FBI’s full statement here.