Sen. Bernie Sanders Bernie SandersNYT editorial board remembers Ginsburg: She 'will forever have two legacies' Two GOP governors urge Republicans to hold off on Supreme Court nominee Sanders knocks McConnell: He's going against Ginsburg's 'dying wishes' MORE (I-Vt.) says the FBI’s actions regarding Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonBiden leads Trump by 36 points nationally among Latinos: poll Democratic super PAC to hit Trump in battleground states over coronavirus deaths Battle lines drawn on precedent in Supreme Court fight MORE have no bearing on his presidential campaign.

Sanders spokesperson says FBI announcement re Clinton emails will not impact the senator's decision to stay in the race — MaryAlice Parks (@maryaliceparks) July 5, 2016

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FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday announced his agency will not recommend criminal charges against Clinton for her private email setup while secretary of State, potentially settling what had been the single biggest unanswered question in the presidential race.

“Although there is evidence of potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information, our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case,” he said at the FBI’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.

“We are expressing to Justice our view that no charges are appropriate in this case."

Republicans had said that Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, could be indicted over the emails, and some political observers speculated that Sanders was staying in the race in case the FBI decided to pursue charges.

While Comey on Tuesday did not recommend prosecuting Clinton, he delivered a searing rebuke of her handling of classified information as secretary of State.

“Although we did not find clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information, there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information.”

The FBI’s decision all but clears Clinton of the federal investigation looming over her White House run since last year.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch said last Friday she would accept whatever recommendations the FBI and career prosecutors made about Clinton’s server.

Sanders, meanwhile, has repeatedly refused to concede the Democratic presidential nomination to Clinton. He insists his campaign will continue to the Democratic National Convention later this month in Philadelphia.

Still, Sanders has said he plans to vote for Clinton and acknowledged in an interview last month that he is unlikely to be the nominee.