Reuters
Contrary to a New York Times report, The U.S. Justice Department says it did not receive a request to open a criminal inquiry into whether Hillary Clinton handled sensitive information with her private email account as secretary of state. The Washington Post reports that the Department received only a referral related to the “potential compromise of classified information.” Rep. Elijah Cummings, a Democrat on the House committee investigating the attacks on Benghazi in 2012, said he “spoke personally to the State Department inspector general on Thursday, and he said he never asked the Justice Department to launch a criminal investigation of Secretary Clinton’s email usage.”
Clinton addressed the issue herself during a planned economic speech on Friday at New York University. “I want to say a word about what’s in the news today, and it’s because there have been a lot of inaccuracies as Congressman Cummings made clear this morning. Maybe the heat is getting to everybody,” she said from the podium. “We all have a responsibility to get this right. I have released 55,000 pages of emails I have said repeatedly that I will answer questions before the House [Benghazi] Committee. We are all accountable to the American people to get the facts right and I will do my part. But I'm also going to stay focused on the issues, particularly the big issues that really matter to American families.”