Clinton says was “eager” to meet with FBI as Trump claims no charges will be filed.

Clinton Says She Was “Eager” to Meet With FBI as Trump Claims No Charges Will be Filed

Clinton Says She Was “Eager” to Meet With FBI as Trump Claims No Charges Will be Filed

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The Slatest
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July 3 2016 11:54 AM

Clinton Says She Was “Eager” to Meet With FBI as Trump Claims No Charges Will be Filed

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Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton participates in a roundtable conversation on national security at the Virginia Air and Space Center on June 15, 2016 in Hampton, Virginia.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Hillary Clinton said her sit-down with the FBI over her private email server was something that she had been “eager” to do, noting that she was “pleased to have the opportunity to assist the department in bringing its review to a conclusion.” In her first interview since she talked with the FBI on Saturday, Clinton told NBC’s Chuck Todd that the federal investigators were well aware that she was willing to meet with them whenever they wanted. “It was something I had offered to do since last August,” she said. Clinton’s interview with the FBI is seen as a sign that the Justice Department’s yearlong probe is likely coming to an end.

Despite this eagerness though, Clinton made it clear she wouldn’t expand on her previous comments on the case, repeatedly refusing the opportunity to defend herself against any claims of wrongdoing. When asked specifically about who told her it was perfectly legal for her to have a private server as secretary of State, Clinton refused to “go into any more detail than I already have in public many times … out of respect for the process the department is conducting."  

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Clinton did imply that the entire controversy surrounding her husband’s meeting with Attorney General Loretta Lynch was much ado about nothing. “It was a short, chance meeting,” she said twice during the interview. “They did not discuss the Department of Justice review.”

On Saturday afternoon, Trump took to Twitter to say that according to his “sources,” there won’t be any charges filed against Clinton. “The system is totally rigged!” he wrote.

He sent out that tweet half an hour after he wrote that it would be “impossible” for the FBI not to recommend charges against Clinton.

Daniel Politi has been contributing to Slate since 2004 and wrote the Today’s Papers column from 2006 to 2009. Follow him on Twitter.