FBI interviews Hillary, as investigation seemingly winds down [UPDATED]

This morning, FBI investigators interviewed Hillary Clinton for three-and-a-half hours. The meeting took place at FBI headquarters in Washington.

Presumably, the interview with Clinton signals that the FBI’s investigation is at or near an end. Investigators already have interviewed numerous Clinton aides, including the key ones: Huma Abedin, Cheryl Mills and Bryan Pagliano, the IT technician who set up Hillary’s server.

According to CNN, “sources” say the “expectation” is “there will be announcement of no charges in [the] Clinton email probe within [the] next two weeks or so.”

I don’t know how much stock to put in this report, but it’s consistent with what I’ve thought all along — that there probably won’t be an indictment. It’s also consistent with Loretta Lynch’s statement that she will accept the recommendation of the career prosecutors and investigators. As I discussed yesterday, if Lynch knows what that there almost certainly will be a recommendation not to prosecute, it makes sense for her to say she will accept the recommendation.

For me, the close question was never so much whether Clinton would be prosecution but whether the FBI would recommend such a prosecution. The way the wind seems to be blowing, it looks like the FBI will not.

In that case, the interesting questions become (1) how much, if any, push back there will be from folks who participated in the investigation and wanted a prosecution and (2) how much attention any dissent from these folks receives in the media.

UPDATE: If Hillary lied to the FBI investigators during her three-and-a-half-hour interview and the investigators know she lied, that might change the dynamic significantly.

It’s possible that during Bill Clinton’s meeting with Loretta Lynch, the attorney general told Bill that Hillary is in the clear provided that she tells the truth during her interview. But I’m just speculating.

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