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House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz suggested Thursday that the FBI’s decision not to pursue charges against Hillary Clinton despite her mishandling of classified information represents a “double standard,” as he kicked off a highly anticipated hearing with FBI Director James Comey.
Chaffetz, R-Utah, said he was “mystified” by the FBI conclusion not to recommend prosecution.
“It seems to a lot of us that the average Joe … if they had done what you laid out in your statement, that they’d be in handcuffs,” Chaffetz said. “And I think there is a legitimate conce that there is a double standard -- if your name isn’t Clinton or you’re not part of the powerful elite, that lady justice will act differently.”
Chaffetz voiced conce that there “does seem to be no consequence.”
Comey is testifying before the House Oversight and Govement Reform Committee, just two days after the FBI aouncement.
The hearing comes as Republicans tu up the pressure on both Comey and Clinton in the wake of the FBI recommendation not to pursue charges in the email case. Attoey General Loretta Lynch, after receiving Comey’s recommendation, on Wednesday declared the investigation over with no criminal charges issued.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., now wants Comey to release all of the unclassified findings from the agency’s investigation.
“Right now, there are simply too many unanswered questions,” Ryan wrote in a letter to Comey. “… The American people deserve to know exactly what your investigation uncovered and why the FBI came to the decision to recommend that no criminal charges be brought against Secretary Clinton.”
Ryan also sent a letter to Director of National Intelligence James Clapper urging him to deny Clinton access to classified information “for the duration of her candidacy for president.”
“There is no legal requirement for you to provide Secretary Clinton with classified information, and it would send the wrong signal to all those charged with safeguarding our nation’s secrets if you choose to provide her access to this information despite the FBI’s findings,” Ryan wrote.
“I firmly believe this is necessary to reassure the public that our nation’s secrets are secure,” he added.
The Clinton campaign is hitting back repeatedly at Republicans, with a top spokesman calling the bid to deny her access to classified information a “stunt” and the campaign saying Republicans had voiced “nothing but confidence” in Comey before his aouncement earlier this week.
But Comey's decision, and the way he delivered it, infuriated Republicans who felt that the FBI director in his unusually detailed and critical televised statement Tuesday had laid out a sufficient basis for prosecution.
In a stinging assessment of her email practices as secretary of state, Comey rebuked Clinton and her aides for being "extremely careless" in their handling of classified information and contradicted many of the defenses and explanations she's put forward for months. But he also said there was no evidence anyone willfully or intentionally mishandled classified information and that "no reasonable prosecutor" would pursue such a case.
Comey, who served as deputy attoey general in the George W. Bush administration, was appointed in 2013 to a 10-year term as FBI director by President Barack Obama.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.