Former FBI General Counsel James Baker told Congress that he thought former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should have faced charges for mishandling classified information, Fox News reports.
Baker told congressional committees last October that he believed until “pretty late” in the FBI’s investigation that Clinton should have been prosecuted for having classified materials on a private email server, according to a transcript of the closed-door hearing.
He said it was "the nature and scope of the classified information that, to me, initially, when I looked at it, I thought these folks should know that this stuff is classified, that it was alarming what they were talking about, especially some of the most highly classified stuff.”
Former FBI Director James Comey told lawmakers in 2016 that "We did not find evidence sufficient to establish that she [Clinton] knew she was sending classified information beyond a reasonable doubt to meet the intent standard."
An unnamed legislator asked Baker if he "originally believed it was appropriate to charge Hillary Clinton with regard to violations of law — various laws with regard to the mishandling of classified information,” and if he “had to be persuaded, and stated as a basis that ultimately you were persuaded there was a lack of evidence establishing knowledge or criminal intent.”
Baker responded, “yes,” to both questions, and said that he changed his mind “pretty late in the process, because we were arguing about it, I think, up until the end.”
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