FBI Director James Comey and Attorney General Loretta Lynch are reportedly meeting often to discuss the progress of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private, unsecured email system.
Fox News reported:
Among the issues discussed in the meetings, which have been taking place several times per week, are who will be interviewed and in what order, according to an intelligence source close to the ongoing case. ... "In a case like this you get one shot at the queen," the source, who was not authorized to speak on the record, said referring to Clinton, the former secretary of state and current frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination. "The pressures are enormous on the agents, as the case has to be airtight and perfect."
The latest report came one day after Al Jazeera America reported that investigators will interview Clinton herself as the FBI completes the probe, which could come in a matter of days or weeks. The FBI is also said to be planning to interview Clinton’s former top aides at the State Department, including Philippe Reines and Cheryl Mills.
While several reports have indicated that the FBI is looking into whether a crime was committed, Clinton and her presidential campaign have characterized the probe as a security review.
Clinton has also insisted that she never sent nor received information marked classified on her email, which she used exclusively to conduct State Department business. Still, the federal government has upgraded more than 2,000 emails from Clinton’s server with classification markings. Twenty-two of the messages have been deemed top secret, the highest classification, and the State Department was forced to withhold them from release.
Once the FBI concludes its investigation, the agency could recommend an indictment. It would then fall to the Justice Department to prosecute.
Reports of the ongoing FBI probe have dogged Clinton’s presidential campaign. While Clinton leads her competitor, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), in the primary race, her poll numbers and favorability ratings have dropped amid the controversy, which has waged on for more than a year.