US authorities close case against Clinton over use of private server

WASHINGTON: The United States Department of Justice on Wednesday said it was closing the case over Hillary Clinton’s use of a personal email system when she was

WASHINGTON: The United States Department of Justice on Wednesday said it was closing the case over Hillary Clinton’s use of a personal email system when she was secretary of state, and that no charges will be pressed against anyone.

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Attorney general Loretta Lynch said in a statement she was closing the case and not pressing charges against anyone on the recommendation of FBI director James Comey.

The FBI director had on Tuesday said that though presumptive Democratic nominee Clinton and her aides were “extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information … we are expressing to Justice our view that no charges are appropriate in this case”. The FBI director was over on Capital Hill on Thursday explaining his decision, which has angered Republicans who were hoping to get an indictment to end her bid for the White House.

Comey stood his ground and defended the decision, pushing back against suggestions that Clinton was granted leniency because she is a Clinton, a highly-connected politician.

House committee chairman Jason Chaffetz, a Republican, said, “If your name isn’t Clinton, or you’re not part of the powerful elite, then Lady Justice will act differently.”

Comey, also a lifelong Republican, responded: “We try very hard to apply the same standard whether you are rich or poor, white or black, old or young, famous or not known at all.”