´óÏó´«Ã½

Hillary Clinton email row: FBI releases inquiry files

  • Published
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton addresses the National Convention of the American Legion in Cincinnati, Ohio.Image source, Reuters
Image caption,

The federal investigation into Mrs Clinton's use of private email has haunted her on the campaign trail

The FBI has published documents relating to its investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of private email while serving as Secretary of State.

The 58 pages of notes included the Democratic presidential nominee's interview and details about her private server at her New York residence.

The FBI in July ended a year-long inquiry into whether she broke the law by using a private server.

FBI Director James Comey did not recommend criminal charges.

Mr Comey concluded that though Mrs Clinton and her staff had been "extremely careless" with classified information, there was no evidence that she knowingly shared sensitive material.

Mrs Clinton has claimed that her use of private email was allowed.

Analysis by Anthony Zurcher, North America Reporter

FBI Director James Comey said that Hillary Clinton did not display "sophisticated" knowledge of how to handle classified information and that she and her staff were "extremely careless" with sensitive material.

Newly released FBI documents provide numerous details to bolster both assertions.

Mrs Clinton said she didn't recall receiving any specific instruction on handling classified material. She said she thought the "(c)" in several emails could have been a paragraph listing format. She said she didn't "pay attention" to classification levels, instead treating all classified material "seriously".

During her tenure as secretary, she used 13 mobile devices. Some were destroyed, but others couldn't be located.

There was indication that unknown parties tried to gain access to her email server and one case where an email account belonging to a Bill Clinton staffer may have been successfully "compromised". Mrs Clinton also regularly brought her Blackberry phone into secure State Department locations - a violation of department policy.

Mrs Clinton has made her experience and competency key components of her campaign pitch to voters. This FBI report won't help her make that case.

According to the documents, Mrs Clinton told the FBI she "did not explicitly request permission to use a private server or email address", but that members of the State Department were aware of her use of a private address "because it was displayed to anyone with whom she exchanged emails".

The files also include information on how the private server was set up in the basement of Mrs Clinton's home in Chappaqua, New York.

Though the documents, which included summaries of interviews with some Clinton staffers, offered more insight into the FBI's investigation, large portions of the files were heavily redacted.

Questions over Mrs Clinton's use of a private server have dogged her presidential campaign on the trail over the last year.

A spokesman for Mrs Clinton's Republican rival, Donald Trump, said the notes "reinforce her tremendously bad judgment and dishonesty".