Prosecutors Set Up Meetings, Showing Clinton Email Inquiry Near Completion

Federal prosecutors investigating Hillary Clinton’s private email server have begun to set up formal interviews with Clinton’s longtime and closest aides, along with the former secretary of State herself, according to two sources who spoke with the Los Angeles Times.

James McJunkin, former head of the FBI’s Washington field office, explained that this step shows the inquiry is moving into its final phases.

The interviews are critical to understand the volume of information they have accumulated. They are likely nearing the end of the investigation and the agents need to interview these people to put the information in context. They will then spend time aligning these statements with other information, emails, classified documents, etc., to determine whether there is a prosecutable case.

In late January, it emerged that Clinton had directed her staff to transfer classified information onto her private email server, knowingly violating the restrictions on the use of such information. Clinton directed her assistant to “turn into nonpaper w no identifying heading and send non-secure.”

In early February, the FBI officially declared that Clinton is under investigation for her email scandal. Many Democrats consider Clinton a disaster, with her FBI investigation and her high unfavorable ratings. Nearly one third of Bernie Sanders’ supporters say they could not vote for Clinton in the general election.

While the Los Angeles Times reported that “many legal experts believe that Clinton faces little risk of being prosecuted for using the private email system to conduct official business when she served as secretary of state,” a former Obama intelligence official said that she should remove herself from consideration in the presidential race.

“I think Hillary Clinton, for the good of the country, should step down and let this FBI investigation play out,” said Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn (Ret.). He led the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) from July 2012 to August 2014, and declared that anyone who compromised intelligence at this level of classification has no business running for president.

Even if the prosecutors and the Obama Justice Department decide against indicting Clinton, the FBI likely has enough information to leak stories up until the general election. This will not sway Clinton’s close supporters, but that third of Sanders’ backers may be even less likely to vote Democrat in the general election with a constant deluge of such stories. Even without an indictment, she is far from out of the woods.