FBI Releases Hillary Clinton Email Investigation Files

The F.B.I. on Friday released its interview with Hillary Clinton that was conducted in early July, along with a memorandum summarizing the investigation into her use of a private email server that contained classified information.

The document summarizing the Democratic presidential candidate’s more than three-hour interview, known in the F.B.I. as a 302 report, runs only a dozen pages. The memorandum is lengthier, and goes into greater detail about aspects of the case. The materials were presumably provided to James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director, who later decided to not recommend charges in the case.

A senior law enforcement official said the interview at F.B.I. headquarters had been intended “to fill the gaps” of what the F.B.I. did not know about why Mrs. Clinton decided to use a private email server.

Both documents were partially redacted, which had slowed their release as the bureau sought to protect sensitive information while satisfying the public’s right to know.

The documents offer the most detailed account of Mrs. Clinton’s role from the bureau’s yearlong investigation into whether the former secretary of state or her aides broke the law by using a private system – clintonemail.com – to send tens of thousands of emails about government business, including classified matters.

The details of the investigation may do little to alter the basic outline of a controversy that has dogged Mrs. Clinton and her presidential hopes since The New York Times first disclosed in March 2015 that she had used a private email system exclusively as secretary of state in the Obama administration.

Even so, the documents provided Donald J. Trump and the Republicans more ammunition — from the F.B.I.’s own files to attack Mrs. Clinton’s judgment and honesty as she heads into the final, post-Labor Day phase of the presidential campaign.

[NY Times]