The day after Attorney General Loretta Lynch declined to seek criminal charges against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for transmitting sensitive material over her private email server, the State Department is reopening its internal investigation. The State Department began its inquiry into Clinton’s emails in January, but temporarily halted its work to allow the FBI investigation to proceed.
Here’s more from the Associated Press:
Although the former secretary of state’s closest confidants have left the agency, they could still face punishment. The most serious is the loss of security clearances, which could complicate her aides’ hopes of securing top positions on her national security team if she becomes president… Beyond the Democratic front-runner, the probe is will most likely examine confidants Cheryl Mills, Jake Sullivan and Huma Abedin — who wrote many of the emails to their boss that the various investigations have focused on. Mills, Clinton’s chief of staff at the State Department, has been viewed as a possibility for the same job in the White House. There is speculation that Sullivan, Clinton’s former policy chief, could be national security adviser.
“We will aim to be as expeditious as possible, but we will not put artificial deadlines on the process,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said. “Our goal will be to be as transparent as possible about our results, while complying with our various legal obligations.”
