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The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has said it will not recommend charges over Mrs Hillary Clinton's use of a private e-mail server as secretary of state, although she was found "extremely careless" in handling highly classified information.
Mrs Clinton, who is now in the running for the United States' presidency, has said the use of private e-mail "was allowed" but "I have said many times it was a mistake and if I could go back, I would do it differently". She has said no e-mails that she handled were marked classified at the time.
But by not using a government server, FBI director James Comey said Mrs Clinton increased the risk of her communications being intercepted by hostile nations.
"Any reasonable person in secretary Clinton's position" should have "known that an unclassified system was no place" for the sensitive information she handled as the top US diplomat, he said.
Mrs Clinton, who is now in the running for the United States' presidency.Photo:The Straits Times
The discovery of Mrs Clinton's e-mail practices grew out of a request by the House Select Committee on Benghazi for communications between Mrs Clinton and other officials surrounding the September 2012 attack on the diplomatic outpost in Libya that killed four Americans, including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens.
As lawyers for the State Department gathered material, they discovered that she had used a personal, non-government address for her e-mail and routed the messages through a server kept in her home in Chappaqua, New York.
"Although there is evidence of potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information, our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case," Mr Comey told a news conference yesterday.
"Although the Department of Justice makes final decisions on matters like this, we are expressing to (the) Justice (department) our view that no charges are appropriate in this case," he said.
Attorney-General Loretta Lynch said last Friday that she would accept whatever recommendations that career prosecutors and the FBI director make about whether to bring charges in the case.
Mr Comey said investigators reviewed more than 30,000 e-mails turned over to the agency and "fragments" of others that had been deleted, identifying about 50 in the "secret" or "confidential" categories.
There was no evidence that the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee or her staff deleted e-mails with the intention to hide contents, he noted.
Shortly after Mr Comey wrapped up his speech, Mrs Clinton's political rival Donald Trump fired tweets to air his displeasure over the FBI findings.
"FBI director said Crooked Hillary compromised our national security. No charges. Wow! #RiggedSystem," the presumptive Republican presidential nominee wrote
Meanwhile, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus on Tuesday said in a statement that the FBI decision was rigged.
"This is grossly negligent conduct on the part of Hillary Clinton and her aides, but as the Obama Administration has repeatedly shown throughout this process, they were never going to prosecute Clinton's criminal behavior because they are counting on her to deliver their failed agenda a third term," said the statement.
U.S. President Barack Obama andMrs Clinton.Photo:BBC
Early this year, U.S. President Barack Obama weighed in on Clinton's intent of using a private email setup during her stint at the State Department.
He told Fox News in an interview that he believed that Clinton did not intentionally endanger national security in her handling of classified information.
The remarks immediately raised concerns that the federal investigators could be swayed by the president's view on the issue.
The FBI announcement also came a week after former U.S. President Bill Clinton had a private meeting with Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
The 30-minute meeting on June 27 at the Phoenix International Airport in Arizona, which Lynch described as primarily social, raised concerns about a potential conflict of interests.
According to ABC News who first disclosed the meeting, Mr. Clinton waited for Lynch's arrival after being notified that she would be arriving at the same airport. Mr. Clinton approached Lynch and initiated the unplanned chat.
Speaking on Friday at Aspen Ideas Festival in Aspen, Colorado, Lynch indicated her regrets about not having turned down the former president.
She also announced that she "fully" expected herself to accept recommendation by FBI investigators on whether to bring charges related to Hillary Clinton's personal email setup.
Lynch said her decision to accept FBI recommendation was made long before her impromptu chat with Mr. Clinton.
(APD)
