Top Clinton aide Cheryl Mills granted partial immunity in email probe

WASHINGTON, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Hillary Clinton's top aide Cheryl Mills was granted limited immunity from the Department of Justice in the FBI investigation into Clinton's private email server.

Mills, Clinton's former chief of staff and adviser at the State Department, became one of five people known to have received some form of immunity in connection with the FBI probe along with former Clinton aide Heather Samuelson and John Bentel, director of the the Information Resources Management section in the secretary of state's office, according to Politico.

"This is beyond explanation," House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) said in a statement. "The FBI was handing out immunity agreements like candy. 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."

Mills and Samuelson were given immunity in exchange for handing over laptops used while serving as Clinton's attorneys in 2014 following a review of what emails Clinton sent were work-related and which were personal.

"The DOJ and FBI considered my clients to be witnesses and nothing more," Mills' attorney Beth Wilkinson said. "Indeed, the Justice Department assured us that they believed my clients did nothing wrong. At all points, my clients cooperated with the government's investigation, including voluntarily participating in interviews with the FBI and DOJ."

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee said the "very limited" immunity offer only included the laptops and did not extend to testimony before Congress, FBI statements or any other investigations.

"The letters released to the Hill today only covered the computers that my clients had used in performing their legal work," she said. "Because of the confusion surrounding the various agencies' positions on the after-the-fact classification decisions, I advised my clients to accept this letter from DOJ."

Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon said the leak of these details were politically motivated considering their proximity to the first presidential debate on Monday.

"House Republicans are trying to make something out of nothing by rummaging through the files of a Justice Department investigation that was closed months ago without any charges whatsoever, and leaking selective details three days before the first presidential debate," he said.

Donald Trump aide Jason Miller called the granting of the immunities part of a "criminal scheme" and questioned Clinton's judgement.

"Revelations that three additional individuals, including Cheryl Mills, were granted immunity from prosecution in Hillary Clinton's email scandal shows this was without a doubt a criminal scheme," he said. "At its heart, Clinton's secret server was an end run around government transparency laws designed to hide corruption between the Clinton Foundation and her State Department, an arrangement which ultimately put our national security and sensitive diplomatic efforts at risk. No one with judgment this bad should be allowed to serve as president of the United States or hold any public office."