In a statement, the House speaker, Paul Ryan, condemned Clinton’s behavior. “Yet again, Hillary Clinton has nobody but herself to blame. She was entrusted with some of our nation’s most important secrets, and she betrayed that trust by carelessly mishandling highly classified information.”
Some lawmakers questioned the timing of the announcement, with less than two weeks remaining until the election.
“Why is FBI doing this just 11 days before the election?” John Cornyn, the second-ranking Republican in the Senate, tweeted. “Why would FBI reopen Hillary investigation unless there is evidence of more than ‘extreme carelessness’ in handling classified information?”
Democrats also complained about this in private, saying Comey’s letter was vague and raised more questions than it answered.
The Republican National Committee was quick to cast the FBI’s announcement as a reopening of the investigation into whether Clinton engaged in criminal behavior – even though the nature of the new inquiry remained unclear.
“The FBI’s decision to reopen their criminal investigation into Hillary Clinton’s secret email server just 11 days before the election shows how serious this discovery must be,” the RNC chairman, Reince Priebus, said in a statement.
“This stunning development raises serious questions about what records may not have been turned over and why, and whether they show intent to violate the law.
“What’s indisputable is that Hillary Clinton jeopardized classified information on thousands of occasions in her reckless attempt to hide pay-to-play corruption at her State Department,” he added. “This alone should be disqualifying for anyone seeking the presidency, a job that is supposed to begin each morning with a top secret intelligence briefing.”
The FBI has re-opened its investigation into Hillary Clinton and examining classified information. Here’s the letter from the FBI to Congress:
About the author: Scott Bernstein is the CEO of Global Security International LLC headquartered in NYC. He has extensive experience as a Counter Terrorist Consultant, International Apprehension Operative, Human & Sex Trafficking Expert and a Military and Law Enforcement Trainer. He is available as a Consultant and as a Speaker. In addition to his LinkedIn profile, you can also interact with Scott on his LinkedIn group http://bit.ly/1LMp2hj.