Thanks Barack: Grinning Clinton campaigns with the president - hours after his FBI director cleared her of email scandal
The former secretary of state showered praise on Obama, her 2008 rival, who she said she was 'very privileged' to have gotten to know throughout the last decade, as she introduced him
The president is 'someone who has never forgotten where he came from,' Clinton said. Taking a jab at her current opponent, Donald Trump, she added, 'And Donald if you're out there tweeting its Hawaii'
Clinton rode with Obama today to Charlotte, North Carolina, on Air Force One
This morning FBI Director James Comey announced his recommendation that the Justice Department not bring charges against the former secretary of state; Clinton did not bring it up at the event
Hillary Clinton is 'fired up and ready to go' win November's election now that she doesn't have to worry about a possible federal indictment.
Clinton was grinning from ear to ear as she appeared in Charlotte, North Carolina, this afternoon with President Barack Obama - their first joint event of the election cycle.
The pair latched hands and lifted their hands and gave an upward punch as they posed for the cameras. Waving and pointing they made their way to center stage, the nation's first black president and the woman he hopes will replace him reveled in the spotlight.
The former secretary of state spoke first, showering praise on Obama, her 2008 rival, who she said she was 'very privileged' to have gotten to know throughout the last decade, as she introduced him.
The president is 'someone who has never forgotten where he came from,' Clinton said. Taking a jab at her current opponent, Donald Trump, she added, 'And Donald if you're out there tweeting its Hawaii.'
At no time in her remarks did Clinton bring up the Justice Department's investigation to her secret server. The White House says she did not discuss it with the president on their flight down, either.
This morning FBI Director James Comey announced his recommendation that the Justice Department not bring charges against the former secretary of state.
What she did was 'extremely'careless,' he said, but it is the FBI's opinion that 'no reasonable prosecutor' would bring a case against her.
A spokesman for Clinton said in a statement afterward, 'We are pleased that the career officials handling this case have determined that no further action by the Department is appropriate.
'As the Secretary has long said, it was a mistake to use her personal email and she would not do it again, ' said Brian Fallon, a former Justice Department flak who now serves as national press secretary for Clinton's presidential campaign. 'We are glad that this matter is now resolved.'
The matter has not been 'resolved' yet, however. The FBI recommended that Justice Department prosecutors not pursue charges, but Attorney General Loretta Lynch has yet to formally weigh in.
A spokesman for the State Department acknowledged the fact this afternoon at his daily briefing, telling reporters asking about the probe, 'We need to wait and see what the Justice Department decides to do now in the wake of the FBI investigation before we move forward one way or another.'
The Democrat's campaign breathed a sigh of relief today nonetheless as it prepared for its first event with President Barack Obama and Clinton.
As Clinton's campaign chair John Poesta deplaned Air Force One, he told reporters in North Carolina, 'It's a great day.'
Clinton was in high spirits, too, as she introduced Obama at her rally Tuesday afternoon and hailed him for going toe-to-toe with foreign leaders and taking out Osama bin Laden.
'Compare that to Donald Trump. Can you imagine him sitting in the Oval Office the next time America faces a crisis?' she asked her audience. 'Donald Trump is simply unqualified and temperamentally unfit to be our president and commander in chief,' she said to loud cheers.
The former Obama administration official was just beginning a speech at the National Education Association in Washington, D.C. this morning when Comey presented the FBI's findings at a press conference and made no acknowledgement in her address of the breaking news.
Speaking from the FBI's headquarters in Washington, Comey said his bureau found no evidence that Clinton or her lawyers 'intentionally deleted' government emails from her private email address and server that they did not first provide to State.
Comey said, 'Although we did not find clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information, there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information.'
At least seven email chains contained information that Comey said 'any reasonable person' in Clinton's position 'should have known that an unclassified system was no place for that conversation.'
Still, he said, the FBI could not find any previous cases that dealt with the mishandling of classified information 'that would support bringing criminal charges on these facts.'
The law enforcement official warned, however, that the bureau's findings are not meant to 'suggest that in similar circumstances, a person who engaged in this activity would face no consequences.
'To the contrary, those individuals are often subject to security or administrative sanctions,' he stated. 'But that is not what we are deciding now.'
Republican White House candidate Donald Trump said the Obama administration official showed 'bad judgement' in deciding that the Justice Department should not indict Clinton.
'The system is rigged. General Petraeus got in trouble for far less. Very very unfair! As usual, bad judgment,' Trump said Twitter immediately after the declaration.
He said in a follow up tweet: 'FBI director said Crooked Hillary compromised our national security. No charges. Wow! #RiggedSystem'
The Republican National Committee said that while the FBI head said not to prosecute Clinton the bureau's 'findings are a glaring indictment of Hillary Clinton’s complete lack of judgment, honesty, and preparedness to be our next commander-in-chief.'
The national party contended that Obama's Justice Department was 'never going to prosecute Clinton’s criminal behavior because they are counting on her to deliver their failed agenda a third term.'
'Between the Attorney General’s private meeting with Bill Clinton last week, to President Obama’s active support for Hillary Clinton’s candidacy, the American people will rightly be left second guessing whether justice was really served,' Chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement.
Clinton will have another opportunity to comment on the case directly when she speaks in Charlotte, North Carolina this afternoon.
CELEBRATION: 5: Delegates slap together thundersticks as they wait for Democratic presidential candidate HillaryClinton to address the National Education Association conference this morning
Clinton is appearing alongside President Barack Obama, who gave her ride to North Carolina this afternoon on Air Force One.
The Obama White House had long said that it was not involved in the FBI's investigation and that the president's endorsement of Clinton would have no bearing on the law enforcement agency's probe.
Coincidentally or not, Comey's well-timed announcement on Tuesday did however put Clinton in the clear before she hopped aboard the president's plane for the relatively short flight to Charlotte.
It also ensured that the White House would not get questions on the matter on camera until Wednesday.
When the president travels, his press secretary holds what is known as a gaggle on Air Force One with the small group of reporters whose turn it is to travel with Obama on the government aircraft.
Unlike the regular daily briefing at the White House, the on-the-record session is not filmed.
