He noted the statute under which Clinton would have been charged was enacted during World War I and has been used only once, in an espionage case.

Many Republicans, however, believe the decision not to pursue charges against Clinton was driven by politics rather than the law. On Thursday morning, Comey testified on the matter before a House of Representatives committee.

In their letter, Lankford and the other senators submitted three questions to Kerry. They asked for the security status of Clinton, aides, Huma Abedin, Cheryl Mills and Jake Sullivan, and “other officials implicated in the FBI investigation,” whether steps were being taken to sanction Clinton and the others, and whether any other State Department employees have been sanctioned since 2009.

“We believe that it is clear from Director Comey’s statement and the FBI investigation that the State Department should immediately suspend the clearances of Hillary Clinton, Huma Abedin, Cheryl Mills, Jake Sullivan, and other former State Department employees for security violations if they still maintain them,” the letter states.

Both party’s presidential nominees are typically briefed on classified national security issues prior to November elections.

In May and June, Reuters and other news organizations reported intelligence community resistance to briefing apparent Republican nominee Donald Trump because of his sometimes brash comments. That opposition has since faded.

Randy Krehbiel 918-581-8365 randy.krehbiel@tulsaworld.com

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