Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced Wednesday she would follow the recommendations of the FBI and would not be charging Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton over her use of a private email server.
“Late this afternoon, I met with FBI Director James Comey and career prosecutors and agents who conducted the investigation of Secretary Hillary Clinton’s use of a personal email system during her time as Secretary of State,” Lynch said in a statement. “I received and accepted their unanimous recommendation that the thorough, year-long investigation be closed and that no charges be brought against any individuals within the scope of the investigation.”
Comey was scathing in his assessment of Clinton’s use of the server for her official correspondence while secretary of state, calling her “extremely careless” for sending classified information over a network which was not guaranteed to be secure. Clinton had previously said that no classified information was sent using the server, but Comey said 110 emails contained such information at the time they were sent. Further correspondence sent from the account has since been marked classified, the FBI director said.
But despite these missteps by Clinton and her aides — all of whom “should have known” the system was not properly secured and should not have been used in such a way — Comey said Tuesday he was not recommending the Department of Justice pursue criminal charges against her.
Lynch said last week she would accept whatever recommendation the FBI gave on how to proceed with the case that has dogged Clinton throughout the campaign. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee campaigned in North Carolina with President Barack Obama following Comey’s announcement Tuesday morning, but neither Clinton nor Obama commented on the investigation.