James Comey is a Republican, let's hope he can be nonpartisan. This is worrisome for the Democrats that this hasn't been resolved.
CK
"We want to do it well and we want to do it promptly. I feel pressure to do both of those things," FBI Director James Comey told reporters during a roundtable at FBI headquarters. | AP Photo
FBI's Comey: I feel 'pressure' to quickly finish Clinton email probe
Handling investigation 'well' is top priority, FBI director says, rejecting any 'external deadline'
By
JOSH GERSTEIN
05/11/16 01:23 PM EDT
Updated 05/11/16 02:25 PM EDT
FBI Director James Comey said Wednesday he feels "pressure" to complete the federal investigation into Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's private e-mail server competently and quickly.
However, Comey said the pressure is similar to other high-profile cases the bureau handles such as terrorism investigations.
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"We want to do it well and we want to do it promptly. I feel pressure to do both of those things," Comey told reporters during a roundtable at FBI headquarters. "As between the two things, we will always choose 'well.'"
Comey indicated he's not taking into account political events, including the upcoming conventions or the fall election.
"I don't tether to any external deadline," the FBI chief said.
Comey also swatted away a series of questions about the status of the investigation, describing it only as pending. He did repeat that he is tracking the probe closely.
"I remain close to that investigation to make sure that it’s done well and has the resources that are needed...My goal in any investigation is to do it well and do it promptly, especially investigations of intense public interest. All of that remains true,” Comey said at the outset of the hour-long session. “It remains under investigation.”
Asked about complaints from some security clearance holders that they would be in jail if they acted similarly to Clinton, the FBI director declined to comment directly, but said: "There's no special set of rules for anybody that the FBI investigates."
The FBI began investigating Clinton's e-mail set up last summer, after the intelligence community's inspector general reported to the Justice Department that classified information appeared to have gotten outside authorized channels.
Comey pledges 'no outside influence' on Clinton email case
By
JOSH GERSTEIN
The State Department has declared classified more than 2,100 of the messages on former Secretary of State Clinton's private server, including 22 deemed "top secret."
Clinton has said that none of the messages were marked classified at the time she received them. She has also disputed that any contained highly sensitive information and said that she wants all the messages made public.
Several top Clinton aides have reportedly been interviewed by the FBI in recent weeks, including former Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills and former Deputy Chief of Staff Huma Abedin.
Clinton and her team have made a point of not describing the FBI's work as an "investigation," but alternately as a "security review" or "security inquiry." They've also noted that the issue was referred to the FBI not as a criminal matter but as an intelligence breach.
However, in response to a question Wednesday, Comey said he wasn't familiar with the term "security inquiry" that Clinton and her aides have used. The FBI chief said he considers the work agents are doing to be an "investigation."
"It's in our name. I'm not familiar with the term 'security inquiry','" the director said.
However, he passed up the chance to repeat a reporter's characterization of it as a "criminal" probe.
Read more:
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/...tigation-fbi-james-comey-223071#ixzz4B2U5DTIN