In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, President Barack Obama reaffirmed that the Justice Department and the FBI will not protect Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential front-runner, during the investigation of her private server and emails. In fact, Obama said, “I can guarantee that.” A phrase he uttered repeatedly during the interview, he reassured the American public that Clinton would not receive special treatment.
“I guarantee that there is no political influence in any investigation conducted by the Justice Department, or the FBI, not just in this case, but in any case,” Obama said. He noted that he does not talk to the Attorney General or FBI directors about any pending investigations.
The FBI is currently investigating a private server and email account held by Hillary Clinton that was used as secretary of state. The investigation, which is active and ongoing, has been criticized by Republicans, who assert that the Justice Department would not prosecute Clinton even if evidence is found that she broke the law.
During the interview, Obama was asked if Hillary could be prosecuted even if she were to become the Democratic nominee.
“Guaranteed,” he responded.
But despite Hillary’s emails containing classified information, Obama has stated that her personal email use has not put America’s national security at risk. He noted that her management and use of email was careless, and stated that Hillary acknowledges this fact.
Obama also clarified that there are different levels of classification. “There’s classified, and then there’s classified,” he said. Obama explained that there is information that is “really top-secret,” and information that is presented to the secretary of state that you “may not want on the transom”, but could be found in open-source.
