07 July 2016•Update: 07 July 2016
NEW YORK
Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will not be indicted for her handling of private emails as Secretary of State, Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced Wednesday.
Lynch's announcement comes one day after the FBI recommended no charges against the presumptive Democratic nominee, despite describing Clinton’s and her aides as "extremely careless" in handling information and revealing that some of her emails contained classified information, contradicting her earlier statements.
"I received and accepted their [FBI's] 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," Lynch said in a statement.
FBI Director James Comey said Tuesday there was no “clear evidence” Clinton or her aides intended to break the law during her 2009 to 2013 tenure.
“There is evidence to support a conclusion that any reasonable person in Secretary Clinton’s position, or in the position of those government employees with whom she was corresponding about these matters, should have known that an unclassified system was no place for that conversation,” Comey said in a statement.
“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,” he added.
The FBI found 110 emails contained classified information. At least eight email conversations contained “top secret” information and 36 were classified “secret”, the agency said.
There was no evidence of successful hacking but the FBI said it was possible that “hostile actors gained access to Secretary Clinton’s personal email account”.
The FBI interviewed Clinton on Saturday about the case.
Lynch said last week she would follow the recommendations of FBI investigators, who began a probe last August, to determine whether to press charges.
The Attorney General came under fire last week after announcing that she had an impromptu 30-minute private conversation with Clinton’s husband, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, at an airport in Arizona with many criticizing the two public figures for exercising poor judgment and raising suspicions while the case -- critical to the presidential candidate's chances -- was underway.
Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump earlier described the decision not to prosecute Clinton as “very unfair”.
