A source familiar with the FBI decision tells CNN that Comey and his FBI colleagues were "playing with the language throughout" the process, but consistently held the belief that they needed to condemn Clinton's handling of classified information while asserting they would not bring charges.
Instead, Comey ended up criticizing Clinton's conduct as "extremely careless," but said no reasonable prosecutor would pursue charges based on the evidence.
"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," Comey said in July.
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A source familiar with the decision-making process at the FBI at the time tells CNN that "the Bureau and Jim were trying to see what a statement of declamation might look like -- and they were playing with the language throughout. The one thing that's a constant is that they thought what they had seen so far, subject to change, was that charges would not be appropriate but that the conduct was worthy of criticism. It was a matter of how to explain both."
"They wanted to get a sense of what this statement might look like," the source said. "They hadn't stopped investigating and they were continuing to seek access to all sorts of things from Hillary that she was fighting to have to turn over. But they also wanted internally to discuss what an end game might look like."
Throughout this end game, the source said, Comey thought that while the while there was evidence of violations, no reasonable prosecutor would proceed. Which is what he stated on July 5, 016: "Although there is evidence of potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information, our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case."
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"I think she was extremely careless. I think she was negligent -- that I could establish," Comey told the House Oversight and Government Reform panel. "What we can't establish is that she acted with the necessary criminal intent."
