WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – FBI Director James Comey told U.S. lawmakers yesterday that FBI employees who mishandled classified material in the way Hillary Clinton did as secretary of state could be subject to dismissal or loss of security clearance.
Comey addressed the issue at a House of Representatives committee hearing that lasted nearly five hours after House Speaker Paul Ryan said in a letter to Director of National Intelligence James Clapper that Clinton should be denied classified briefings during her campaign for the presidency.
Comey, who said on Tuesday he would not recommend that the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee face criminal charges, was asked at the hearing if Clinton should face administrative punishment for the way she handled her email. “I don’t think that’s for me to recommend,” he said.
Comey did say his employees in the Federal Bureau of Investigation would face discipline for the same behavior.
“They might get fired, they might lose their clearance, it might get suspended for 30 days,” Comey said. “There would be some discipline.”
Presidential candidates normally get access to classified information once they are formally nominated. As director of the FBI, Comey does not have the authority to revoke Clinton’s security privileges.
A group of Republican senators on Thursday asked the State Department to immediately suspend clearances for Clinton and several current and former aides based on the agency’s findings.
