House Speaker Paul Ryan lashed out Friday at Hillary Clinton and the Department of Justice after the FBI released notes from its investigation into her handling of government documents.
A slew of details regarding Mrs. Clinton’s secret email server as secretary of state were revealed with a Labor Day weekend document dump. Mr. Ryan said notes from the agency’s July 2 interview with the Democratic presidential nominee demonstrated “reckless and downright dangerous” behavior.
He also said the 58 pages of notes “cast further doubt on the Justice Department’s decision to avoid prosecuting what is a clear violation of the law.”
“This is exactly why I have called for her to be denied access to classified information,” Mr. Ryan said in a statement.
Some of the details from the agency’s release include:
- Mrs. Clinton told the FBI she couldn’t remember if she was ever briefed on preserving records, but implied it may have happened after she suffered a concussion in 2012;
- Mrs. Clinton said she was “not concerned” about sending classified emails.
- Mrs. Clinton used up to 13 different devices to conduct business as President Obama’s top diplomat;
- Former Secretary of State Colin Powell warned Mrs. Clinton about using a Blackberry device to do official business in 2009;
- An unknown party using a Tor, an encrypted privacy tool, accessed an email account on the Clinton family’s server; and
- Mrs. Clinton declined State Department email address at the start of her tenure.
SEE ALSO: FBI publishes notes on Hillary Clinton’s use of private email
FBI Director James Comey told the nation in a televised address on July 5 that Mrs. Clinton was “extremely careless” with the nation’s most sensitive documents as secretary of state, but the agency still recommended she not be prosecuted.
“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 [official conversations],” Mr. Comey said.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch closed the case on July 7.
“I received and accepted their unanimous recommendation that the thorough, yearlong investigation be closed and that no charges be brought against any individuals within the scope of the investigation,” Ms. Lynch said in a statement at the time.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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