House committee to investigate FBI’s decision on Clinton emails

House Republicans will investigate FBI Director James Comey’s decision not to recommend that the Department of Justice file criminal charges against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for her handling of classified emails. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has called Comey to testify on Thursday. “The FBI’s recommendation is surprising and confusing,” said Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, chairman of the committee. “The fact pattern presented by Director Comey makes clear Secretary Clinton violated the law. Individuals who intentionally skirt the law must be held accountable.” Democrats on the committee disagreed. “Republican after Republican praised Director Comey’s impeccable record of independence—right up until the moment he issued his conclusion,” said the committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland. “The only emergency here is that yet another Republican conspiracy theory is slipping away.” House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., told Fox News that Comey’s decision leaves many questions unanswered. “What really just mystifies me is the case he makes and then the conclusion he draws, and what bothers me about this is the Clintons really are living above the law. They’re being held by different set of standards. That is clearly what this looks like,” Ryan said. “And this is why we’re going to have hearings, and this is why I think that Comey should give us all the publicly available information to see how and why they reached these conclusions.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.