STATE TO PROBE CLINTON AGAIN – AT 11:32 A.M. ET:  We briefly reported yesterday that the State Department is resuming its probe of Hillary Clinton's e-mail practices.  The story seemed a little odd.  Here are the details.  From UPI:

WASHINGTON, July 7 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of State will restart its internal investigation into former chief Hillary Clinton's email use, now that Justice officials have declined to pursue charges against the Democratic presidential candidate.

"Given the Department of Justice has now made its announcement, the State Department intends to conduct its internal review," spokesman John Kirby said in a statement Thursday.

The department had been conducting its own investigation into the matter but suspended it to avoid interfering with the Justice Department's review.

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said earlier this week that her department has opted not to file charges against Clinton for using a private email server while she was President Barack Obama's secretary of state.

FBI Director James Comey, who answered questions related to the investigation in Congress Thursday, made the recommendation to Lynch that Clinton face no charges.

A State Department review could potentially lead to certain sanctions against Clinton, including disciplinary action.

"I cannot provide specific information about the Department's review, including what information we are evaluating," Kirby said. "Our goal will be to be as transparent as possible about our results, while complying with our various legal obligations."

COMMENT:  My question is whether this is a truly independent review, or a review intended to help Clinton become the next president.  I make no judgment on that.

On the other hand, if bad stuff turns up, what disciplinary action can State take against Clinton?  She doesn't work there anymore.  There are suggestions floating around from Republicans that Clinton and those who worked for her be stripped of their security clearances.  If that happens, I'll bet only the underlings are targeted.  How could they take away the clearance of a presidential candidate, who needs to receive classified briefings while running for office?

The soap opera goes on.

July 8, 2016