Hillary Clinton’s spokesman said that the presumptive Democratic nominee was “pleased” to meet with the FBI this morning about the investigation into her home email server.
“Secretary Clinton gave a voluntary interview this morning about her email arrangements while she was secretary,” spokesman Nick Merrill said. “She is pleased to have had the opportunity to assist the Department of Justice in bringing this review to a conclusion.”
“Out of respect for the investigative process, she will not comment further on her interview.”
A Clinton aide said on background that the meeting at FBI headquarters in Washington lasted about three and a half hours.
Clinton did end up hopping on the phone with MSNBC’s Chuck Todd, telling him, “It was something I had offered to do since last August. I’ve been eager to do it, and I was pleased to have the opportunity to assist the department in bring its review to a conclusion.”
She said she has “no knowledge of any timeline” for the FBI’s investigation.
“This is entirely up to the department.”
Clinton maintained that the private plane meeting between her husband and Attorney General Loretta Lynch “was a short, chance meeting that occurred, and they did not discuss the Department of Justice’s review.”
“And I know that some, nonetheless have viewed the meeting in a different light, and both the attorney general and my husband have said they would not do it again, and the bottom line, for me, is I respect the professionalism and integrity of the officials at the Department of Justice handling this process,” she added
Todd noted that he agreed with Clinton’s campaign before the interview that it would last no more than five minutes.
Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus chimed in with a statement: “Hillary Clinton has just taken the unprecedented step of becoming the first major party presidential candidate to be interviewed by the FBI as part of a criminal investigation surrounding her reckless conduct.”
“That the FBI wanted her for questioning reinforces her central role in deliberately creating a culture which put her own political ambitions above State Department rules and jeopardized our national security,” Priebus added. “In over 2,000 emails, Clinton’s decision exposed classified information, including 22 that included top secret intelligence, just so she could skirt transparency laws in order to hide her shady dealings as Secretary of State.”
“When you factor in Clinton directed this server be established to cover up the tangled web of donors, State Department actions and her family foundation, we must ask ourselves if this is the kind of leadership we want in the White House.”
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