James Comey told US lawmakers that Hillary Clinton did not lie to FBI agents. (AFP Photo)
FBI Director James Comey on Thursday strongly defended the government's decision to not prosecute Hillary Clinton over allegations that she violated rules by using a private server while she was US Secretary of State, saying that decision was based on an "apolitical" review.
In his first public remarks since announcing the recommendation, Mr Comey told US lawmakers that the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee did not lie to FBI agents, did not break the law and that the decision not to proceed with criminal charges was the unanimous assessment of a group of investigators whom the director described as an "all-star team" assembled by the Justice Department.
Mr Comey denied that Ms Clinton was subject to a different standard in its investigation.
"We try very hard to apply the same standard whether you're rich or poor, white or black, old or young, famous or not known at all," he added.
Mr Comey said his FBI team had conducted its investigation of Ms Clinton "in an apolitical and professional way" and he had no reason to believe she had lied to the FBI. He, however, said that Ms Clinton did not give her interview under oath.
Testifying before a Congressional committee on the email gate, Mr Comey said the FBI did not record the interview it had with Ms Clinton over the weekend, he said.
On Saturday, FBI interviewed Ms Clinton for three and half hours on issues related to her using personal email hosted on a private server during her term as the Secretary of State in the first term of the Obama Administration.
Though her statement was not recorded, a summary of it was prepared by the FBI.
A number of Republicans suggested there was a double standard for charging everyday people accused of crimes as opposed to high-level people like Ms Clinton.
"The question I always look at is, is there evidence that would establish beyond a reasonable doubt that somebody engaged in conduct that violated a criminal statute. And my judgment here there is not," he said.
Mr Comey said Ms Clinton as the Secretary of State use multiple devices.
"She used multiple devices during the four years of her term as secretary of state. We found work-related e-mails, thousands that were not returned," he said in response to another question.
"We found traces of work- related e-mails on devices or in slack space. Whether they were deleted or whether when the server was changed out something happened to them. There's no doubt that the work-related e-mails that were removed electronically from the e-mail system," he said in response to another question.
During the Congressional hearing, Mr Comey acknowledged for the first time that there were only three classified emails, and that in each case the emails contained only "partial" markings -- meaning, he acknowledged, that they were improperly marked and that as a result, the materials could have been reasonably judged as not classified.