Hillary Clinton emails: Justice Department closes investigation without charges

Attorney General Loretta Lynch accepted the recommendations of the FBI

Jessica Kourkounis/Getty

US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said that Hillary Clinton will not face criminal charges in an email investigation that has plagued the former Secretary of State’s presidential campaign.

Ms Lynch, who said the Justice Department will close the case, made the announcement a day following the recommendations of FBI director James Comey to not prosecute Ms Clinton.

“Late this afternoon, I met with FBI Director James Comey and career prosecutors and agents who conducted the investigation of Secretary Hillary Clinton’s use of a personal email system during her time as Secretary of State,” the attorney general said in a statement. “I received and accepted their unanimous recommendation that the thorough, year-long investigation be closed and that no charges be brought against any individuals within the scope of the investigation.”

Last week, Ms Lynch said that she was willing to accept any of the recommendation made by FBI investigators and other federal prosecutors.

"There is evidence to support a conclusion that any reasonable person in Secretary Clinton’s position, or in the position of those government employees with whom she was corresponding about these matters, should have known that an unclassified system was no place for that conversation,” Mr Comey said.

He added: “In looking back at our investigations into mishandling or removal of classified information, we cannot find a case that would support bringing criminal charges on these facts."

The announcement brings the investigation into whether or not Ms Clinton broke the law when she sent State Department emails from a private server.

Nonetheless, Ms Clinton’s GOP opponents still seized on the opportunity to rebuke the presumptive Democratic nominee for her apparent mishandling of the emails.

GOP presumptive nominee responded to Mr Comey’s criticisms of his rival, and will likely continue to focus on the emails throughout the general election season.

“The normal punishment, in this case, would include losing authority to handle classified information,” Mr Trump said, “and that too disqualifies Hillary Clinton from being President.”