Donald Trump suggests Democrats will dump ‘crooked’ Hillary Clinton for Joe Biden

Donald Trump said Wednesday that an inspector general’s finding that Hillary Clinton’s email broke State Department rules was “not good,” and he renewed his attack on the former Cabinet official as “crooked.”

But Sen. Bernard Sanders, Mrs. Clinton’s first hurdle on her path to the White House, took a different path, signaling he would not use the devastating report to impugn the front-runner in the Democratic primary race.

“This is not something that needs to be kicked around the political arena,” Jeff Weaver, Mr. Sanders’ campaign manager, told CNN just hours after the report was sent to Congress and began to leak to the press.

The inspector general concluded that Mrs. Clinton broke department rules by not storing the records, by not reporting attempted hacks of her server and by sending sensitive information over her own devices and through her server.

The report ricocheted around Capitol Hill, where Republicans said it was more evidence for her trying to bend the rules, even as Democrats said other State Department secretaries used personal email accounts — though not their own servers — to conduct government business.

“The inspector general’s report, not good,” Mr. Trump, the likely Republican nominee, said as he rallied supporters in Anaheim, California.

He said things are getting so bad for Mrs. Clinton politically that Democrats may use their convention to try to dump her and recruit Vice President Joseph R. Biden as their nominee over Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Sanders.

“I hear they’re going to actually slip Joe Biden in, and he’s going to take Bernie’s place,” Mr. Trump said.

The emails have dogged Mrs. Clinton’s campaign for a year, contributing to a voting public that gives her high marks for experience but views her as dishonest and unlikable. The report is unlikely to change that, though Mrs. Clinton’s camp says it shows she didn’t do any worse than her predecessors.

“The report shows that this was routine, it was customary,” spokesman Brian Fallon told MSNBC, pointing to former Secretary Colin L. Powell’s use of a personal email.

But the inspector general rejected that comparison, saying that the department’s email policies were “fluid” during Mr. Powell’s time in office and cybersecurity threats weren’t well-understood — but by the time Mrs. Clinton took office, the department had firm policies in place.

“Beginning in late 2005 and continuing through 2011, the Department revised the [manual] and issued various memoranda specifically discussing the obligation to use Department systems in most circumstances and identifying the risks of not doing so. Secretary Clinton’s cybersecurity practices accordingly must be evaluated in light of these more comprehensive directives,” the inspector general said.

Even as Mr. Trump attacks Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Sanders’ campaign has repeatedly declined to make the emails an issue — a move some analysts have said was a tactical mistake.

But Mr. Weaver said they’re comfortable with their stance.

“I think the report speaks for itself. This is obviously an area where the senator has chosen not to go,” Mr. Weaver said. “He’s tried to keep this campaign on the issues — issues like the minimum wage, on health care, on trade policy, on making college affordable. That’s why he’s doing so well in this campaign — because he is talking about these substantive issues.”

Asked specifically if Mr. Sanders will be addressing the report, Mr. Weaver said: “I don’t anticipate that he will.”