Former President Bill Clinton on Friday stridently denied that the FBI investigation into his wife Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's private email server as secretary of state had anything to do with national security, calling such assertions the "biggest load of bull."
Speaking at the Asian American Journalists Association national convention in Las Vegas, Clinton responded to a question from the audience by dismissing evidence of any mishandling of classified information and using FBI Director James Comey's comments on the probe to buttress his argument, Politico reports.
"The FBI director said, when he testified before Congress, he had to amend his previous day's statement, that she had never received any emails marked classified," Clinton said.
"They saw two little notes with a 'C' on it – this is the biggest load of bull I ever heard – that were about telephone calls that she needed to make and the State Department typically puts a little 'C' on it to discourage people from discussing it in public in the event the secretary of state, whoever it is, doesn't make a phone call.
"Does that sound threatening to the national security to you?"
Clinton said allegations of negligence defy credulity.
"Do you really believe there are 300 career diplomats because that's how many people were on these emails, all of whom were careless with national security? Do you believe that?" he said, CNN reports. "Forget about Hillary, forget about her. Is that conceivable?"
Clinton noted that a number of Republican former national security officials have recently endorsed Hillary Clinton.
"There are people who spent their lifetimes advancing national security who believe she's the only person that you can trust," he said.
Clinton also attacked Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, saying he is too divisive to lead the nation.
"When I think of my dream America in the 21st century it includes an inclusive society that values our diversity," he said, Politico reports. "As a nation we clearly are less racist, sexist, homophobic than we used to be.
"Notwithstanding some unfortunate instances in this campaign, most Americans are not bigoted against other people because of their religion," he continued in a swipe at Trump's call for a temporary ban on immigration from terrorism-heavy Muslim nations.
"You want a president like Hillary who sees you as part and parcel of the American quilt of diversity, part of a whole country that is stronger together."
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