Tuesday morning, FBI Director James Comey announced the results of the agency’s investigation into whether Clinton mishandled classified material during her time as US Secretary of State. Despite his opinion that Clinton was "extremely careless" and that "any reasonable person should have known that an unclassified system was no place for that kind of information," the FBI will not recommend that the Department of Justice prosecute.
"Our judgement is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring a case," Comey told reporters, adding that "no charges are appropriate."
Despite the fact that Clinton stored "top secret" material on "unclassified personal servers," potentially placing national security at risk, the likely Democratic presidential candidate will be face fewer repercussions than American whistleblowers, including John Kiriakou.
A former CIA analyst, Kiriakou was one of the first to come forward with revelations that the United States relied on the use of illegal torture practices as part of its war on terror. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison for unveiling classified information.
"Comey’s decision reflects the utter hypocrisy of the justice system in matters of national security," Kiriakou told Sputnik.
"If you are a whistleblower you can expect the entire weight of the US government to fall on your head. But if you are a well-connected political figure, or a friend of the president, you can violate the country’s espionage laws with impunity and know that you’ll get away with it."
Many have pointed to an “impromptu” meeting between former President Bill Clinton and US Attorney General Loretta Lynch aboard her government aircraft in Arizona last week as a sign of the Clinton’s hand in shaping the US government’s decision.
"That meeting was yet another indication of how the Clintons play by their own rules," Kiriakou said. "They don’t care about the appearance of impropriety, they care only about the Clintons.”
It remains unclear whether the FBI’s decision will impact the November presidential election.
"Certainly the Republicans will be able to capitalize on it because most Americans believe that she committed a crime," Kiriakou asserted.
"I think that many voters will conclude that the fix was in and there was never really any chance she would be prosecuted in the first place."
