published Jul 6th 2016, 5:35 pm, by Chris Strohm

(Bloomberg) —
U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Wednesday that Hillary Clinton won’t be charged criminally for her use of personal e-mail while secretary of state, accepting a recommendation from the FBI after a more than yearlong investigation.

Lynch said that she met Wednesday with Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey and prosecutors to discuss the bureau’s findings. In a statement, she said the federal probe into Clinton’s handling of sensitive communications while serving as the nation’s top diplomat would end.

“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,” Lynch said.

The attorney general announced her decision a day after the FBI released its findings in the case. Comey said the bureau’s investigation didn’t find that Clinton or her aides intentionally mishandled classified information and that “no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case.”

However, Comey gave Clinton’s critics plenty of fuel, saying there was evidence that she and her staff were “extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information.” He also contradicted a number of Clinton’s claims about how official communications were handled.

Key congressional Republicans said they were baffled by the decision not to prosecute Clinton or her aides. Comey has been called to testify Thursday before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Lynch is scheduled to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on July 12.

While Clinton has been cleared of any legal wrongdoing, presumed Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and other Republicans have already started using the FBI’s findings as a political weapon against her presidential campaign.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Strohm in Washington at cstrohm1@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael Shepard at mshepard7@bloomberg.net Justin Blum
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