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Chaffetz Has More Questions for FBI on Clinton Emails

Utah Republican requests further review of agency's closed investigation

Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is asking the FBI for further review of its investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)
Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is asking the FBI for further review of its investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)

House Republicans, unwilling to accept the FBI’s decision to not recommend prosecuting Hillary Clinton over her use of a private email server, continue to pepper the agency with requests for more details of its investigation.

Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz, leading the charge as chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, asked FBI Director James B. Comey on Tuesday to provide information about unauthorized individuals gaining access to classified information on Clinton’s private email server.

[House Republicans Will Seek More FBI Scrutiny of Clinton Over Emails]

The revelation about the unauthorized individuals came during an oversight hearing July 7 that lasted five hours in which Comey told Chaffetz that Clinton’s lawyers, who did not have security clearances, had access to classified information.

In a letter to Comey, Chaffetz asks the agency to provide information on investigations it may have conducted into whether Clinton’s staff or her lawyers improperly accessed classified information and any possible conclusions it may have reached.

While Comey called the mishandling of classified information “extremely careless,” he maintained that Clinton did not willfully intend to violate any laws through the use of the unauthorized email server that was located in the basement of her home in New York.

[74 Ways to Deflect Questions on the Clintons]

Republicans, deeply unsatisfied with the FBI’s conclusion, are jumping at any opportunity to question the agency’s investigation into the Democratic presidential candidate during her tenure as secretary of State.

The House Judiciary Committee plans to hold a hearing in September, where Comey will be asked to testify, a Republican committee aide said.

Before Congress broke for recess, the Judiciary Committee questioned Attorney General Loretta Lynch for another five hours over her decision to take up the FBI’s recommendation to not prosecute Clinton days after she met privately with Clinton’s husband, former President Bill Clinton, on a private plane while they were both on the tarmac at the Phoenix airport.

On Monday, Rep. Lamar Smith, with the support of Wisconsin GOP Sen. Ron Johnson, subpoenaed three companies that provided software and services that played a role in maintaining Clinton’s private email server. The Texas Republican cited the failure of the companies to comply with the committee’s previous request for interviews and information about the structure and security of the private email system.

Johnson called Clinton’s email practices “dangerously reckless and grossly negligent.”

Contact Rahman at remarahman@cqrollcall.com or follow her on Twitter at @remawriter.

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