Clinton email probe appears nearing end
WASHINGTON — FBI agents probing whether Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server imperiled government secrets appear close to completing their work, a process experts say will probably culminate in a sit-down with the former secretary of state.
The FBI has already spoken with Huma Abedin, a Clinton confidante who was among the Democratic presidential front-runner’s closest aides at the State Department. Former chief of staff Cheryl Mills is also cooperating with the investigation, according to her lawyer.
That signals that agents will probably seek to interview Clinton soon, if they haven’t already, former Justice Department officials told The Associated Press. The FBI’s standard practice is to save questioning the person at the center of an investigation for last, once it has gathered available facts from others.
“With a person like Secretary Clinton, the FBI probably assumes they are going to get one chance to interview her, not only because she is a prominent person but because she is very busy right now with the presidential campaign,” said David Deitch, a former Justice Department prosecutor. “It makes sense they would defer interviewing her until late in their investigation.” Clinton has been dogged by questions about her email practices while she was secretary of state. She has acknowledged that her private email server was a mistake but said she never sent or received anything marked classified at the time.
FBI Director James Comey said this month he is keeping close tabs on the investigation to ensure it’s conducted properly and completed promptly.
Republicans want to keep the issue alive through the November presidential election, alleging that she put national security at risk.
Deitch stressed that just because investigators may seek to interview Clinton does not necessarily mean she is in legal jeopardy.
“As a defense attorney, I have had many cases where targets of an investigation were interviewed and no indictment was ever forthcoming,” Deitch said. “It’s just part of the process.”