House Speaker Paul Ryan sent a letter to Director of National Intelligence James Clapper Wednesday requesting he deny Hillary Clinton any access to classified information for the remainder of her 2016 presidential campaign.
In the letter, posted on the speaker's
website, Ryan said after FBI Director James Comey's investigation into Clinton's use of private email server found her and her staff were "extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information," the former secretary of state should not receive classified intelligence briefings.
Clinton will start getting classified briefings after the Democratic National Convention, and since the FBI declined to press charges against her, but stated "this is not to suggest that in similar circumstances, a person who engaged in this activity would face no consequences," Ryan believes denying Clinton access qualifies as appropriate sanctions.
Clapper is not required to give the presumptive Democratic nominee access, but Ryan says denying her is vital to the public interest. "I firmly believe this is necessary to reassure the public that our nation's secrets are safe."
The speaker also sent a
letter to Comey asking him for the unclassified materials of his probe into Clinton's email investigation.
Comey is set to testify before the House Oversight Committee Thursday about the agency's decision not to recommend charges against the former secretary of state.
An editorial in
The Charlotte Observer was critical of Ryan's actions, saying, "They're after something more than the truth."
"The foot stomping that followed Comey's decision suggests that a House hearing will be little more than a political spectacle," writes the editorial.
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