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Obama, in an
interview broadcast on Fox News Sunday, said Clinton has
recognized a carelessness on the email issue in which she used a
private server for government business.
"But I also think it is important to keep this in perspective,"
Obama said. "This is somebody who has served her country for
four years as secretary of state, and did an outstanding job."
Clinton, secretary of state from 2009 to 2013, has said her
email arrangement broke no rules and that she will be vindicated
in investigations of whether any laws were broken.
The government forbids sending or storing classified information
outside secure, government-controlled channels.
The FBI has taken the server and is investigating the case with
U.S. Justice Department attorneys. At least two Republican-led
congressional committees are also investigating.
The Democratic president was asked if the Justice Department
investigation would treat the Clinton case impartially.
"I guarantee that there is no political influence in any
investigation conducted by the Justice Department, or the FBI,
not just in this case, but in any case," said Obama, who leaves
office next year.
"Guaranteed. Full stop. Nobody gets treated differently when it
comes to the Justice Department. Because nobody is above the
law," he said.
The State Department said this month it has suspended plans for
an internal review of whether classified information was
properly handled in Clinton's emails at the request of the FBI.
The department, complying with a judge's order, has released
more than 52,000 emails from Clinton's private server.
Republican rivals in the battle for the Nov. 8 presidential
election have cited the email controversy in saying Clinton is
unfit for the presidency.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Alison Williams)
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