FBI defends decision not to charge Clinton as it submits probe documents to Congress
By Matt Zapotosky and Karoun Demirjian August 16 at 8:50 PM
The FBI on Tuesday forcefully defended its decision not to criminally charge Hillary Clinton in connection with her use of a private email server as secretary of state in a letter to lawmakers that laid out its rationale for refusing to do so.
The letter was sent to House Oversight Committee lawmakers the same day that the bureau released to the GOP-controlled Congress a variety of material from its investigation.
It marked yet another occasion in which FBI leadership responded to – and in some cases, rebutted – GOP claims about why the Democratic presidential nominee should have been charged. But the materials turned over to lawmakers – which included an investigative summary; reports known as “302s” containing interviews with Clinton and others; and classified emails found on her private server – may give Republicans fodder to criticize Clinton in the months before the election.
That is, if that material — some of which is classified — is actually released or leaked by Republicans, which could put them in the awkward spot of defending the release of sensitive information, which they have criticized Clinton for mishandling by using a private server as secretary of state. But there was confusion Tuesday night among lawmakers about what pieces of the material could eventually be released to the public. House Oversight Chair Jason Chaffetz had yet to personally review the material, but was skeptical it could be made public; but Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Charles E. Grassley seemed to indicate that much of the material ultimately could be released.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/08/16/hillary-clinton-interviews-by-fbi-have-been-delivered-to-congress/?wpisrc=nl_politics&wpmm=1