Hillary Clinton’s use of a private server was careless, but that’s not a crime

FBI Director James Comey announced Tuesday that he wouldn’t be bringing any criminal charges against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. That was the right decision. But Comey also sharply criticized Clinton and her team for “careless” behavior with emails. That also was the right decision.

Now, the American people will focus on the GOP’s presumptive nominee, Donald Trump, (who appeared in Raleigh on Tuesday night), who has fueled his campaign with fears of immigrants and Muslims. Will he now get down to real issues – jobs, health care coverage for all, long-term care for the elderly, protection of the borders without the futile and ridiculous idea of closing them, a higher minimum wage and a long-term foreign policy strategy to root out terrorism while protecting the cherished freedoms established by our forefathers?

Hillary Clinton, as she demonstrated in a Charlotte appearance with President Obama on Tuesday, is outlining a clear and powerful vision for achieving all those goals.

Yes, Clinton was careless in her handling of emails. And, yes, she was slow to acknowledge her mistakes, responding with defiance. She should have known better than to conduct business on occasion without being mindful of the threat of sophisticated hackers and the like. The State Department should have done a better job in determining a policy to protect absolute security.

This story was originally published July 5, 2016 at 7:28 PM with the headline "Hillary Clinton’s use of a private server was careless, but that’s not a crime."