Dear Commons Community,

The FBI will recommend to the U.S. Justice Department that no charges be filed over Hillary Clinton’s use of private email servers while secretary of state, agency Director James Comey said earlier today, lifting a cloud of uncertainty over her presidential candidacy. As reported by Reuters:

“The Federal Bureau of Investigation found evidence of “extremely careless” handling of emails by Clinton and that at least 110 emails contained classified information when they were sent, said Comey, announcing the result of a yearlong investigation.

But, he said, the FBI concluded “no reasonable prosecutor” would bring charges against the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

“Although the Department of Justice makes final decisions on matters like this, we are expressing to Justice our view that no charges are appropriate in this case,” Comey told reporters in Washington.

His recommendation will likely stand. The country’s top prosecutor, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, said on Friday that she would accept the recommendations of career prosecutors and the FBI director on whether to charge Clinton for mishandling emails.

The FBI probe has dogged Clinton for the past year, contributing to her low poll ratings on honesty and trustworthiness. Republicans pointed to the controversy as evidence that she considered herself above the law.

Donald Trump, Clinton’s Republican rival in the Nov. 8 election, has hammered her on the issue, saying the investigation should disqualify her from being president. On Tuesday, he said the FBI decision was unfair.

“The system is rigged,” he said on Twitter. “As usual, bad judgment.”

Comey’s announcement came hours before Clinton’s first campaign appearance with President Barack Obama, set for later Tuesday in North Carolina. It also came less than three weeks before the start of the Democratic National Convention at which Clinton is to be nominated.

The FBI has been investigating whether Clinton broke the law as result of personal email servers kept in her Chappaqua, New York, home while she was secretary of state from 2009 to 2013. One of the questions is whether she mishandled classified information on the servers.

The Clinton campaign issued a statement saying it was “pleased” with the FBI decision.”

Tony