Days after President Obama stated unequivocally that Hillary Clinton did not breach national security by hosting her official communications on a private server, an FBI source leaked news that investigators were looking into a possible “gross negligence” violation of the Espionage Act.
Although the White House quickly attempted to walk the president’s comments back, the assertion reportedly angered FBI agents and prompted a watchdog group to renew its calls for a special counsel to probe the case.
David Bossie, president of Citizens United, called Obama’s comments “the latest and most compelling reason why this case requires an impartial special counsel to investigate.”
“When the President of the United States — who appoints the Attorney General — acts as judge and jury in a politically-charged case such as this, it should be crystal clear that the case needs to get out of the control of political appointees,” said Bossie, who was the first to call for a special counsel last month.
Sen. John Cornyn has since echoed the call, saying in a letter to the attorney general and in subsequent remarks on the Senate floor that a special counsel is needed to aid the email investigation.
“Not a sweep under the rug, not a playing out the clock until the end of the administration, but answers that can only come from an independent investigation conducted by a special counsel,” the Texas Republican said.
Obama had said during an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” that he did not believe Clinton’s private email use posed a threat to national security.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest soon attempted to soften the president’s comments by explaining that Obama was not trying to weigh in on the pending FBI investigation.
But the damage was done. On Friday, the New York Times reported current and former FBI agents were upset that the president had chosen a side in an ongoing probe.
The news followed an apparent leak the night before to Fox News, which indicated investigators were looking at both a possible obstruction of justice and a breach of the Espionage Act that involved being grossly negligent with sensitive information.
Although Clinton and her supporters have attempted to discredit the Benghazi committee’s investigation, which uncovered her email use earlier this year, they have struggled to downplay the significance of an investigation conducted by the Obama administration’s Justice Department.
