Hillary Clinton and the FBI met on Saturday morning to address the subject of the presumptive Democratic nominee’s previous private email usage. According to Clinton’s campaign, the meeting lasted three-and-a-half hours and included a voluntary interview from Clinton.
“Secretary Clinton gave a voluntary interview this morning about her email arrangements while she was Secretary,” Clinton campaign spokesman Nick Merrill said in an email Saturday afternoon. “She is pleased to have had the opportunity to assist the Department of Justice in bringing this review to a conclusion. Out of respect for the investigative process, she will not comment further on her interview.”
The investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server while Secretary of State has been something detractors have pointed at as a major flaw attached to the White House hopeful. Opponents of Hillary won’t be particularly pleased with CNN’s report that it appears unlikely she will face charges once the investigation is considered complete. (This belief hinges on there being nothing disastrous revealed in today’s interview.)
Sources tell CNN's Evan Perez: expectation is that there will be announcement of no charges in Clinton email probe w/in next two weeks or so
— Los Angeles Lawyer (@AnLALawyer) July 2, 2016
A Democrat close to Clinton tells CNN's @JeffZeleny that the campaign believes the FBI will announce its decision before the conventions.
— Los Angeles Lawyer (@AnLALawyer) July 2, 2016
More from CNN's @EvanPerez: Expectation is no charges will be brought against Clinton- so long as no wrongdoing emerged in today's interview
— Los Angeles Lawyer (@AnLALawyer) July 2, 2016
Clinton’s been tight-lipped about the reports she could be in the clear.
Asked about reports charges will not be brought, Hillary tells MSNBC she has "no knowledge of any timeline" says it's "entirely up" to DOJ.
— Los Angeles Lawyer (@AnLALawyer) July 2, 2016
.@HillaryClinton on whether she has been told no charges will be brought: "..I have no knowledge of any timelines.." pic.twitter.com/ZwxzYbmXor
— Los Angeles Lawyer (@AnLALawyer) July 2, 2016
Arch-rival Donald Trump was, not surprisingly, not tight-lipped. He expressed his displeasure in Trump-ian style on Twitter.
It is impossible for the FBI not to recommend criminal charges against Hillary Clinton. What she did was wrong! What Bill did was stupid!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 2, 2016
It was just announced-by sources-that no charges will be brought against Crooked Hillary Clinton. Like I said, the system is totally rigged!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 2, 2016
Rigged or not, it will be intriguing to see if the result of this investigation will impact the polls. Late June polls from Washington Post/ABC News and Reuters/Ipsos positioned Clinton as leading by double digits against Trump. However, a Quinnipiac University poll that arrived this week had the race too close to call.
(via New York Times, CBS News, CNN)