Donald Trump Calls FBI's Email Recommendation on Hillary Clinton 'Very Unfair'
FBI recommended that no charges be filed against Clinton.
-- FBI Director James Comey's recommendation that Justice Department prosecutors not pursue charges against Hillary Clinton for using a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state is an example of a “rigged system," presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said in a statement today.
“… Because of our rigged system that holds the American people to one standard and people like Hillary Clinton to another, it does not look like she will be facing the criminal charges that she deserves,” Trump said in the statement.
The statement continued: "It was no accident that charges were not recommended against Hillary the exact same day as President Obama campaigns with her for the first time." (Clinton campaigns with President Barack Obama in North Carolina today -- their first campaign event together in 2016.)
Trump tweeted earlier today that he found Comey's recommendation to be "very unfair” and also repeated his oft-used comparison that former CIA director General David Petraeus "got in trouble for far less" than Clinton did for using a private email server.
In April of last year, General Petraeus pleaded guilty to leaking classified information to his biographer and lying to the FBI and CIA. Petraeus wrote classified information in his journals and handed them over to his biographer knowingly, then lied to investigators about possessing the books and sharing them.
"In looking back at our investigations into mishandling or removal of classified information, we cannot find a case that would support bringing criminal charges on these facts," Director Comey said today of Clinton's private email server. "All the cases prosecuted involved some combination of: clearly intentional and willful mishandling of classified information; or vast quantities of materials exposed in such a way as to support an inference of intentional misconduct; or indications of disloyalty to the United States; or efforts to obstruct justice. We do not see those things here."
The Republican National Committee piled onto Trump’s comments, with RNC Chair Reince Priebus calling the FBI’s findings a “glaring indictment” of Clinton’s “complete lack of judgment, honesty, and preparedness to be our next commander-in-chief.”
“...They confirm what we’ve long known: Hillary Clinton has spent the last 16 months looking into cameras deliberately lying to the American people,” Priebus said in the statement.
Bernie Sanders' campaign reacted as well, with spokesman Michael Briggs saying that the FBI’s announcement will not affect the senator’s decision to stay in the race. Sanders has remained in the race despite Clinton’s locking up the Democratic nomination and Sanders’ saying that he will vote for Clinton in November.
The FBI announced today that Clinton used several private servers and that out of the 30,000 emails turned over to the State Department, 110 emails in 52 chains contained classified information at the time she sent or received them. Comey called Clinton's use of the private servers "extremely careless."
Clinton's spokesman Brian Fallon said in a statement released today, "We are pleased that the career officials handling this case have determined that no further action by the department is appropriate. As the secretary has long said, it was a mistake to use her personal email, and she would not do it again. We are glad that this matter is now resolved."
The case is now headed to the Department of Justice, which has the ultimate say when it comes to any “prosecutive decision,” Comey said. Attorney General Loretta Lynch has already said she will accept the FBI’s recommendation.
Clinton is set to campaign with President Barack Obama in North Carolina later today — their first campaign event together in 2016.
ABC News’ MaryAlice Parks, Cecilia Vega and Meghan Keneally contributed to this report.