What does it say to the public when officials at the highest levels are not held accountable? The American people expect government officials to abide by the law just like everyone else. However, that does not appear to be the case for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Just a few days ago, FBI Director James Comey announced his recommendation that no criminal charges be filed against Secretary Clinton for her use of a private email server while at the State Department and the mishandling of classified information.
This defies logic and the law. During his announcement, Director Comey stated that Secretary Clinton and her staff had been “extremely careless.” Out of the 30,000 e-mails returned to the State Department by Secretary Clinton, 110 e-mails in 52 e-mail chains contained classified information at the time they were sent or received. But the FBI’s investigation essentially found that these violations didn’t matter. That is particularly concerning given the fact that since 2009, the Department of Justice has prosecuted at least seven people under the Espionage Act regarding the mishandling of classified information. If a federal government employee did what Secretary Clinton did, they would face severe punishment, including termination or revocation of security clearances. Even Director Comey acknowledged this fact at a congressional hearing. But Secretary Clinton is not facing punishment or prosecution for her actions.
I spoke with Director Comey immediately following his announcement, and raised several concerns about the resulting recommendation that Secretary Clinton face no criminal charges. I asked several pointed questions about the FBI’s conclusion and followed up with a letter outlining specific questions. Additionally, Attorney General Loretta Lynch is scheduled to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on July 12th at a hearing on oversight of the Department of Justice. You can bet that we will have questions for her regarding the FBI’s investigation.
Despite the lack of criminal charges, the FBI’s investigation has exposed Secretary Clinton’s dishonesty and lack of judgement. Many of her talking points surrounding her email scandal – “No emails were marked classified … I only used one device for convenience … I turned over all work related emails …” – were found to be false as a result of the FBI’s investigation.
It is clear that Secretary Clinton’s extreme carelessness possibly jeopardized the safety and security of our citizens and nation. Frankly, the FBI’s conclusion leaves many more questions than answers. No one should be above the law, and the American people need to know that federal law enforcement is taking this misconduct seriously. I will continue to seek answers and work to hold federal officials, like Secretary Clinton, accountable – this is not the end of this investigation.
