WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Director James Comey confirmed Thursday the FBI is looking into the security of the setup of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s email and that the agency has the appropriate “resources and personnel assigned to the matter.”
In a wide-ranging conversation with reporters on Thursday, Comey acknowledged the existence of the FBI inquiry and said he was following it closely and being regularly briefed on it.
But he declined to discuss details of the investigation and would not answer questions about when the inquiry might end or exactly what steps the FBI was taking as part of its review.
The FBI this summer took possession of the private email server that Clinton used as secretary of state, after receiving a referral from the intelligence community about the possible exposure of classified information. The controversy has dogged Clinton’s presidential campaign.
Neither the campaign nor Clinton’s lawyer has discussed the inquiry, but both have said they’re cooperating. And Clinton has said repeatedly that she never sent or received information that was marked as classified.
Comey declined to say whether the FBI would publicly announce its findings, or whether the inquiry would be concluded ahead of next year’s presidential primaries and general election. But he said that the FBI does not allow politics to factor into its inquiries.
“One of the main reasons I have a 10-year term is to make sure this organization stays outside of politics, and if you know my folks, you know that they don’t give a whit about politics,” Comey said. “And my job as director of the FBI is to ensure that we remain those things I said we are: competent, honest and independent — and that we do our work well. Part of doing our work well is we don’t talk about it while we do it.”
He said he was confident the FBI has “the resources and personnel” assigned to the matter to complete it in a professional and competent way.
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