Clinton queried by FBI on email server
The FBI interviewed Hillary Clinton on Saturday morning for its investigation into whether she or her aides broke the law by setting up a private email server for her use as secretary of state, her campaign said.
“Secretary Clinton gave a voluntary interview this morning about her email arrangements while she was secretary,” Nick Merrill, a campaign spokesman, said in a statement. “She is pleased to have had the opportunity to assist the Department of Justice in bringing this review to a conclusion.”
The interview, which lasted about 3 1/2 hours at FBI Headquarters in Washington, largely focused on the Justice Department’s central question of whether Clinton’s actions met the legal standard for handling classified information. Shortly after the meeting, two black SUVs were seen returning to Clinton’s house in the capital. The appointment had been weeks in the making as both law enforcement and Clinton’s team coordinated their schedules.
Accompanying Clinton were her lawyer David E. Kendall; Cheryl D. Mills and
Heather Samuelson, longtime aides who are also lawyers; and two lawyers from Kendall’s firm, Williams & Connolly, Katherine Turner and Amy Saharia.
Eight officials from the FBI and the Department of Justice conducted the interview, according to a person who was familiar with the substance of the session but who declined to be named because the meeting was private. This person characterized the meeting as “civil” and “businesslike.” Neither the campaign nor the FBI would elaborate on it.
The investigation has loomed over Clinton’s presidential campaign, as Republicans have seized on the issue to question the presumptive Democratic nominee’s judgment. Although the interview Saturday marked an important step toward closure on the issue, technical analysis of the material remains to be done and could stretch on for an undetermined period.
On Friday, the campaign of Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, blasted out an email titled “The Facts on Clinton’s Secret Server” that included articles about the emails marked classified that had been sent or stored on Clinton’s private server.
The central question in the Justice Department effort is whether the actions met the legal standard for the crime of mishandling classified information.
Clinton’s sit-down with the FBI came amid controversy over a meeting between her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who ran into each other Monday at the Phoenix airport while Bill Clinton was fundraising for his wife’s presidential campaign.
To avoid any appearance of political meddling, Lynch said Friday she would accept the recommendations of career prosecutors and the FBI director regarding whether to bring charges. She said she had made that decision several months ago, before the criticism surrounding her meeting with Bill Clinton.
TRUMP BACKTRACKS
Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, came under fire Saturday for posting on Twitter an image of the Star of David shape next to a picture of Hillary Clinton and calling his opponent the “most corrupt candidate ever!”
While the six-pointed star is used in other contexts, including as a symbol of many sheriff’s departments, it has deep meaning in Judaism and the image was overlaid atop a pile of money. It appeared to play into the stereotype of Jews being obsessed with finances. After being derided on social media, Trump deleted the post and replaced it with one that had a circle instead of the star shape.
While Trump has been working to professionalize his campaign, the Twitter post was the latest example of him making remarks many deem offensive. Several weeks ago, he insinuated that a federal judge presiding over a lawsuit against Trump University could not be impartial in the case because of his Mexican heritage.
Trump apparently realized the problem with the original Twitter post because he rarely apologizes for his remarks or deletes his posts. His campaign did not respond to a request for comment Saturday.