FBI confirms Clinton probe

The FBI formally confirmed that its investigation connected to Hillary Clinton’s private email server remains ongoing in a letter released on Monday.

The letter from FBI general counsel James Baker comes one day before the New Hampshire primary.

{mosads}The message does not offer new details about the probe, which the bureau has been reluctant to discuss. However, it represents the FBI’s formal notification to the State Department that it is investigating the issue.

Since last September, “in public statements and testimony, the Bureau has acknowledged generally that it is working on matters related to former Secretary Clinton’s use of a private e-mail server,” Baker wrote to the State Department. 

“The FBI has not, however, publicly acknowledged the specific focus, scope, or potential targets of any such proceedings.

“Thus … we remain unable [to] provide [details about the case] without adversely affecting on-going law enforcement efforts,” he concluded.

The letter was sent on Feb. 2 but released on Monday as part of an ongoing lawsuit related to the disclosure of Clinton’s emails from conservative watchdog Judicial Watch.

FBI Director James Comey has previously referenced the FBI probe, which the bureau had previously declined to confirm or deny in court filings last year.

Key details about the probe remain unclear, such as whether it is tied to a possible criminal case or whether it has expanded beyond an initial security review.

Comey has previously said that bureau investigators “don’t give a rip about politics,” and would not be put off by the looming presidential campaign. 

Clinton, for her part, has downplayed the server issue.

“I am 100 percent confident [that the probe will not become criminal],” the former secretary of State said in a Democratic presidential debate last week. “This is a security review requested and carried out that will be resolved.”

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said that the FBI’s confirmation proves the investigation “is far from the routine ‘security review’ she has claimed.”

“Clinton’s conduct was a severe error in judgment that grossly endangered our national security and put highly classified information at risk,” Priebus said in a statement on Monday.

“This development is another reminder Hillary Clinton cannot be trusted with the presidency.”

The State Department has classified more than 1,500 emails from Clinton’s “homebrew” server before releasing them to the public, including 22 at the highest level of “top secret.” None of the messages were marked as classified at the time they were sent, the department has claimed. 

This story was updated at 7:08 p.m.