'Extremely careless' in e-mail handling, but no intent to break laws: director

The Clinton campaign said it was "pleased" with the decision. Donald Trump said it was unfair. "The system is rigged," he said on Twitter. "As usual, bad judgment."

The decision was the announcement on Tuesday by the FBI that no criminal charges be filed over Hillary Clinton's use of private email servers while she was secretary of state, but sharply rebuked the Democratic US presidential candidate for "extremely careless" handling of classified information.

While FBI Director James Comey's announcement lifted a cloud of uncertainty for Clinton's White House campaign, his strong criticism of her judgment is likely to fuel a continued onslaught on the email issue by Trump, her Republican presidential rival.

In a lengthy statement on the Federal Bureau of Investigation's conclusions from its yearlong investigation, Comey directly contradicted statements Clinton has made while defending her use of the private email set-up.

He said, for example, that the FBI found at least 110 emails that contained classified information when they were sent, although she has repeatedly said she never sent or received classified information on her private servers.

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

But he said the FBI concluded "no reasonable prosecutor" would bring charges. "Although the Department of Justice makes final decisions on matters like this, we are expressing to Justice our view that no charges are appropriate in this case," Comey told reporters in Washington.

His recommendation will likely stand. The country's top prosecutor, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch, said on July 1 that she would accept the recommendations of career prosecutors and the FBI director on whether to charge Clinton for mishandling emails.

Comey's announcement came hours before Clinton's first campaign appearance with President Barack Obama, in North Carolina. It also came fewer than three weeks before the Democratic National Convention at which Clinton is to be nominated as the party's candidate for the Nov 8 election.