Obama Criticizes FBI on Clinton Email Probe

US President Barack Obama on Wednesday criticized the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for reopening an investigation into the alleged mishandling of classified information by Hillary Clinton only 11 days before the U.S. general election.

    Obama said that the FBI's decision without providing full details had led to "innuendo" and "suggestions" that could influence the outcome of the election between Clinton and Donald Trump next Tuesday.

    "I do think that there is a norm that when there are investigations, we don't operate on innuendo and we don't operate on incomplete information and we don't operate on leaks," Obama said in a media interview. "We operate based on concrete decisions that are made." Obama did not mention James Comey, the FBI director, by name. Comey last week sent a letter to Congress saying "pertinent" new information had come to light on an investigation into Clinton's home computer server that the FBI completed in July, recommending that no criminal charges against Clinton should be filed.

    It is illegal to remove classified information from government computers. Clinton was found to have had confidential data on her home server, making it vulnerable to hacking. The FBI said there was no evidence her server had been hacked.

    Almost 650,000 new emails were found on the home computer of Clinton's top aide after the case was closed. The FBI is working quickly to try to determine if they illegally contain any classified information.

    In the interview Obama suggested the case should be remain closed. "Obviously, it's become a political controversy," he said. "The fact of the matter is that Hillary Clinton, having been in the arena for 30 years, oftentimes gets knocked around and people say crazy stuff about her and when she makes a mistake, an honest mistake, it ends up getting blown up as if it's some crazy thing." "I trust her. I know her," Obama said. "And I wouldn't be supporting her if I didn't have absolute confidence in her integrity and making sure that young people have a better future." 

Source: QNA