Loretta Lynch Makes It Official: No Charges For Clinton

The Department of Justice will not prosecute Hillary Clinton for sending and receiving classified and sensitive government information on her personal email server, announced Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

“Late this afternoon, I met with FBI Director James Comey and career prosecutors and agents who conducted the investigation of Secretary Hillary Clinton’s use of a personal email system during her time as Secretary of State,” Lynch said in a July 6 statement released on the Department of Justice’s official website. “I received and accepted their unanimous recommendation that the thorough, year-long investigation be closed and that no charges be brought against any individuals within the scope of the investigation.”

Comey announced the day before that the FBI concluded through the course of their investigation that, while Clinton did mishandle classified information, she did not do so with criminal intent, and her actions do not merit an indictment, notes CNBC.

“Although the Department of Justice makes final decisions on matters like this, we are expressing to Justice our view that no charges are appropriate in this case,” Comey said Tuesday, according to CNBC.

Comey, a Republican, explained in his speech that his organization investigated the matter “honestly, competently and independently” and that “no outside influence of any kind was brought to bear.”

However, Lynch has received criticism in recent days leading up to the announcement for a private and reportedly impromptu meeting she had on June 27 with former President Bill Clinton aboard her private plane, reports CNN. Though Lynch said that the pair discussed strictly personal matters like grandchildren and golf, the encounter raised questions regarding a potential conflict of interest in Mrs. Clinton’s email case.

“I certainly wouldn’t do it again because I think it has cast this shadow over what it should not, over what it will not touch,” Lynch later said of the timing of her conversation with Mr. Clinton. “It’s important to make it clear that that meeting with President Clinton does not have a bearing on how this matter will be reviewed and resolved.”

Sources: U.S. Department of Justice, CNBC, CNN / Photo Credit: U.S. Embassy London/Flickr