White House press secretary Josh Earnest on Thursday called the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton a “criminal investigation.”

Fox News reporter James Rosen said to Earnest, “So when a career prosecutor or an FBI agent working on the Clinton investigation hears this President speak openly about how he wants Hillary Clinton to succeed him, you don’t think that that career prosecutor or that FBI agent takes that as some indication as to how the president wants to see this case resolved?” (RELATED: Napolitano: It’s A ‘Conflict’ Of Interest For Obama To Endorse A Candidate Under FBI Investigation [VIDEO])

[dcquiz] Earnest replied, “No. I think those career prosecutors understand that they have job to do, and that that job they are supposed to do — which is to follow the facts, to pursue the evidence to a logical conclusion — that’s a job that they are responsible for doing without any sort of political interference. And the president expects them to do that job, this is the reason that we actually ask career federal prosecutors to take the lead on these kinds of matters. They don’t have political jobs. They have career jobs as law enforcement officers and as prosecutors and investigators. That’s what their responsibility is.” (RELATED: Napolitano: ‘Ample Evidence’ To Indict Clinton, Only Lynch Or Obama Could Prevent It [VIDEO])

“And that’s why the President, when discussing this issue in each stage has reiterated his commitment to this principle that any criminal investigation should be conducted independent of any sort of political interference and that people should be treated the same way before the law regardless of their political influence, regardless of their political party, regardless of their political stature and regardless of what political figure has endorsed them,” Earnest said.

For much of the campaign, Clinton hadn’t even dared to call the FBI’s investigation an “investigation.” Instead, she used the word “inquiry.” (RELATED: Hillary STILL Won’t Use The Word ‘Investigation’ To Describe FBI’s Email Probe [VIDEO])

Clinton is currently under investigation for her use of a private email account and server while she was secretary of state. According to Fox New’s Andrew Napolitano, Clinton is under investigation for espionage.

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