Washington: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) will recommend to the US 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 on Tuesday, lifting a cloud of uncertainty over her White House campaign.
The FBI 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 year-long 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 said.
His recommendation will likely stand. The country's top prosecutor, US 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 November 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 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.
"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," spokesman Brian Fallon said.
Clinton has repeatedly said she never sent or received classified information on her private servers. She underwent a voluntary three-and-a-half hour interview with the FBI on Saturday in Washington.
Comey said, however, there was "evidence of potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information."
But he said the FBI did not find that Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate the law, and that there was no "intentional misconduct" by her lawyers who sorted her emails.
Republican legislators have called for an independent investigation of Clinton, saying they do not trust the Justice Department to handle the inquiry with impartiality.
Republican criticism of the process heated up after Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton, met privately with Attorney General Lynch in Phoenix last week. Lynch, who was appointed by Obama, later said she regretted the meeting and said she and Bill Clinton did not discuss the investigation.