Presidential Election

No Charges For Clinton, But That Hasn't Stopped The Commentary

The FBI's decision not to press for charges over Hillary Clinton's email server gave both Republicans and Democrats what they wanted to hear.

No Charges For Clinton, But That Hasn't Stopped The Commentary
Getty Images / Chip Somodevilla
SMS

It took FBI Director James Comey 15 minutes to lay out the results of his agency's probe into Hillary Clinton's private email systems. But the big takeaways from the speech sound different depending on what side of Team Clinton you fall on.

"Our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case," Comey said during his remarks.

For Clinton supporters, this was the most important line of Comey's speech. The FBI director emphasized his department's decision would've been the same no matter who was involved in the case, and he relied on past cases to justify the decision not to push for charges against Clinton.

It's clear Clinton wants this to be the last word on the subject; a statement from the Clinton camp said, "We are glad that this matter is now resolved." There's been no other visible mention of Comey's remarks from the campaign since.

But Clinton's detractors had ears only for this, "There is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive classified information."

The Republican Party seized on that language immediately, using it to highlight the damning evidence of misconduct that turned up in the investigation. The GOP has long touted the investigation as evidence that Clinton is untrustworthy, and Comey's statement gives them plenty of ammunition to continue that attack.

"What the FBI director laid out today was clearly somebody who doesn't understand the importance of our national security, who puts themselves ahead of the rules for everyone else," Republican National Committee Communications Director Sean Spicer told CNN.

Presumed Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump took things a step further and attacked the credibility of the investigation, saying the result was part of a "rigged system."

But whatever else the results of the FBI's investigation say, Comey took great pains to get his personal message across: "Only facts matter, and the FBI found them here in an entirely apolitical and professional way. I couldn't be prouder to be part of this organization."

This video includes clips from Hillary for AmericaDonald J. Trump for President Inc. and C-SPAN. Music provided courtesy of APM Music.