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ByEricTucker and Ken Thomas The Associated Press WASHINGTON The FBI won't recommend crimi- nal charges against Hill- ary Clinton for her use of a private email server while secretary of state, agency Director James Comey said Tuesday, lifting a ma- jor legal threat to her pres- idential campaign. But Comey called her actions "extremely careless" and faulted the agency she led for a lackadaisical approach to handling classified ma- terial. Comey's decision almost certainly brings the legal part of the issue to a close and removes the threat of criminal charges. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said last week that she would ac- cept the recommendations of the FBI director and of career prosecutors. "No charges are appro- priate in this case," Comey said in making his an- nouncement. But Comey made that statement after he deliv- ered a blistering review of Clinton's actions, saying the FBI found that 110 emails were sent or received on Clinton's server containing classified information. He added it was possible that people hostile to the U.S. had gained access to her personal email account. "Although we did not find clear evidence that Sec- retary Clinton or her col- leagues intended to violate laws governing the han- dling of classified informa- tion, there is evidence that they were extremely care- less in their handling of very sensitive, highly clas- sified information," he said. Comey contradicted Clinton's past explanations in the case that she had turned over all of her emails and that she had never sent or received any emails that were classified at the time. The FBI chief said that in the course of the investiga- tion, 110 emails in 52 email chains were determined to contain classified informa- tion at the time they were sent or received. He also found that "several thou- sand work-related emails" were not among the group of 30,000 emails Clinton turned over in 2014. Yet after criticizing Clin- ton, her aides and the de- partment for their actions, he said that after looking at similar circumstances in past inquiries, the FBI be- lieved that "no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case." Comey made the an- nouncement just three days after the FBI interviewed Clinton in a final step of its yearlong investigation into the possible mishandling of classified information. He said he shared the FBI's findings with no one else in the government be- fore making his announce- ment, which came just hours before Clinton trav- eled with President Barack Obama on Air Force One to campaign together for the first time this year. The declaration from Comey is unlikely to wipe away many voters' concerns about Clinton's trustwor- thiness, especially since the FBI director so thoroughly criticized her actions before delivering his verdict. "There is evidence to sup- port a conclusion that any reasonable person in Sec- retary Clinton's position ... should have known that an unclassified system was no place" for sensitive conver- sations, Comey said. Nor will the recommen- dation stop Republican presidential candidate Don- ald Trump, who has called for criminal charges, from continuing to make the server a campaign issue or suggesting Clinton was helped by a Democratic ad- ministration. After Com- ey's announcement , Trump tweeted: "The system is rigged. ... Very very unfair! As usual, bad judgment." House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, a Re- publican, said the decision not to prosecute Clinton de- fied explanation, adding, "No one should be above the law." Clinton campaign spokesman Brian Fallon said it was pleased with the decision but reiterated that it was a "mistake" for Clin- ton to use personal email. Clinton's personal email server, which she relied on exclusively for govern- ment and personal busi- ness, has dogged her cam- paign since The Associated Press revealed its existence in March 2015. She has repeatedly said that no email she sent or received was marked clas- sified, but the Justice De- partment began investigat- ing last summer following a referral from the inspec- tors general for the State Department and the intel- ligence community. The scrutiny was com- pounded by a critical audit in May from the State De- partment's inspector gen- eral, the agency's internal watchdog, which said Clin- ton and her team ignored clear warnings from de- partment officials that her email setup violated federal standards and could leave sensitive material vulner- able to hackers. Clinton declined to talk to the in- spector general, but the au- dit said she had feared "the personal being accessible" if she used a government email account. The Clinton campaign said agents interviewed her this past Saturday for three and one-half hours at FBI headquarters. Agents had earlier interviewed top Clinton aides, including her former State Depart- ment chief of staff, Cheryl Mills, and Huma Abedin, a longtime aide who now is the vice chairwoman of Clinton's campaign. No charges recommended in Clinton email probe, FBI says EMAIL INVESTIGATION CLIFFOWEN—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS FBI Director James Comey makes a statement at FBI Headquarters in Washington, on Tuesday. Comey said 110emails sent or received on Hillary Clinton's server contained classified information. P a i d a d v e r t i s e m e n t WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2016 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM | NEWS | 3 B