When To Expect Clinton Email Investigation Results

For Hillary Clinton to have broken the law when using a personal email account for secretary of state duties, she would have had to purposefully given classified information to someone without authorization to see it. So far, the FBI and prosecutors haven't found any evidence that Clinton intentionally did so, though the email investigation isn't over quite yet. America is anxiously wondering when the results of Clinton's email investigation will be announced, because it could have huge implications for the 2016 election, despite the fact that most voters have already made up their mind about the Democratic presidential hopeful.

There's no set end date for the ongoing investigation, but CNN reports that Clinton will be interviewed by the FBI in the next few weeks. Many of Clinton's top aides, including longtime adviser Huma Abedin, were already interviewed by federal investigators. An interview with Clinton should be one of the last steps in the process, and the FBI will then hand everything over to the Justice Department, which should announce whether anyone will be charged with a crime before November.

Clinton's press secretary, Brian Fallon, said in a statement Thursday that the former secretary of state is cooperating with the investigation. "From the start, Hillary Clinton has offered to answer any questions that would help the Justice Department complete its review, and we hope and expect that anyone else who is asked would do the same," he said.

Despite her cooperation, there are logistical obstacles for the FBI in trying to interview Clinton privately. As a presidential candidate on the campaign trail, she's constantly in the public eye and surrounded by a swarm of reporters, so there will have to be a detailed plan between Clinton's team and the FBI in the coming weeks. This coordination could extend the investigation, making the results unavailable for longer than usual.

If the Justice Department concludes that Clinton didn't deliberately hand over classified information or documents to someone who shouldn't have access, she'll be in the clear. Clinton has maintained from the beginning that she did nothing wrong, and Fallon said in the same statement, "We are confident the review will conclude that nothing inappropriate took place."

One of the main problems with Clinton sending classified emails on a personal server was that it made the secret information easier for hackers to access. Marcel Lehel Lazar, a Romanian hacker, claimed to have accessed Clinton's email server. He told Fox News, "For me, it was easy ... easy for me, for everybody." He is currently awaiting trial in the United States for cyber crimes. However, the State Department and Clinton's campaign denied his claims, and the Clinton campaign also pointed out that he would have leaked the emails if he hacked into them.

Stay tuned for the results on the Clinton email investigation. Indicting a presidential candidate would surely make this election even more unexpected, but at this point, there are few things that would surprise me.