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Graham Calls for Special Prosecutor for Clinton Emails

South Carolina senator echoes Trump's call for an independent review

South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said Donald Trump's comments on Monday were "highly offensive." (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said Donald Trump's comments on Monday were "highly offensive." (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

Sen. Lindsey Graham has called for a special prosecutor to investigate Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server during her time as secretary of State.

The South Carolina Republican, a vocal critic of GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, agreed with Trump’s call earlier this week for an independent investigation.

“I think Mr. Trump’s got it right when he’s calling for somebody outside the Justice Department to look into this matter,” Graham, a member of the Judiciary Committee, told Fox News on Wednesday. “If you’re waiting on this Justice Department to hold anybody in the Obama-Clinton world accountable, you’ll die of old age.”

[FBI Will Not Recommend Charges Against Clinton]

The FBI investigated whether classified information was sent through Clinton’s private server and while Director James B. Comey called her handling of the emails “extremely careless,” he did not recommend criminal charges. Comey said there was no evidence Clinton and her staff intentionally mishandled classified information.

Sen. John Cornyn has been leading the call for a special prosecutor to investigate the Clinton emails practices. After Comey’s announcement, the Texas Republican also said the FBI should release its report on the investigation and any transcripts from Clinton’s interview with the agency.

[Cornyn: DOJ Should Assign Special Counsel to Clinton Emails]

Clinton has faced renewed criticism for her emails in recent days. According to The Washington Post, a recent release of emails from the conservative group Judicial Watch showed that some donors to the Clinton Foundation requested favors or meetings with Clinton while she was secretary of State.

More emails are likely be released before the November election. A federal judge this week ordered the State Department to hasten the release of nearly 15,000 additional emails the FBI uncovered during its investigation.

Contact Bowman at bridgetbowman@rollcall.com and follow her on Twitter at @bridgetbhc.

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