McClatchy: 'Unlikely' Hillary Faces Charges, But Aides Could

The Democrats' presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton isn't likely to face charges related to her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state, though it is possible her aides might, McClatchy reports.

Clinton's high profile not only in President Barack Obama's cabinet, but also as a former U.S. senator from New York and first lady to President Bill Clinton could protect her, while  those lower down wouldn't be, sources told McClatchy.

"She's too big to jail," national security attorney Edward MacMahon Jr. told the news agency. He represented former CIA employee Jeffrey Sterling in a 2011 in a leak case.

Sterling released classified information as a whistleblower, but still received a 3½-year prison term for talking to journalist James Risen.

Clinton sent and received classified information on her home email server, though none of it was marked "classified" at the time, according to the State Department.

So far, the 671 emails that contain such information have been labeled "confidential," the lowest level of classification. The search through about 30,000 emails continues, and Clinton could face tougher scrutiny should anything more serious, such as a "secret" or "top secret" classification, be found among her correspondence.

Clinton's aides also sent classified information over the private server, and would be more likely to face charges, according to MacMahon.

If a low-level government employee "cooked up their own home server" that received emails containing classified information "they would have already been arrested," he said.

FBI officials have not said whether their probe is focusing on any of Clinton's aides.

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