Mills Got Immunity Deal In FBI Clinton Probe

On Friday, the Associated Press reported that Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz said former Hillary Clinton aide Cheryl Mills was given immunity for her cooperation with the FBI in the agency's probe of the Democratic presidential candidate's private email server as secretary of state. Mills served as Clinton's chief of staff when she headed the State Department. Chaffetz also said John Bentel, who served as the director of the State Department's Office of Information Resource Management under Clinton, and Heather Samuelson, a Clinton aide, were granted immunity deals during the FBI's investigation, as well.

Mills gave "federal investigators access to her laptop on the condition that findings couldn't be used against her," according to the Associated Press' account of what Chaffetz shared.

"No wonder they couldn't prosecute a case," Chaffetz, who is chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, told the Associated Press. "They were handing out immunity deals like candy." He continued:

I've lost confidence in this investigation and I question the genuine effort in which it was carried out. Immunity deals should not be a requirement for cooperating with the FBI.

In July, FBI Director James Comey announced that his agency would not be recommending an indictment for Clinton for her use of a private email server during her secretary of state tenure. Comey stated:

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.

Ultimately, Comey concluded, that while "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."

Prior to Chaffetz's account on Friday, it was already known that former State Department IT technician Bryan Pagliano also was given an immunity deal during the FBI investigation. Pagliano was subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee but declined to show up to the hearing. On Thursday, the House Oversight Committee voted to hold Pagliano in contempt of Congress.