Hillary Clinton interviewed by FBI over private email server use as secretary of state

The controversy over Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server has taken another twist after the former secretary of state confirmed she had been questioned over the issue by FBI agents.

In a statement, the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate's spokesman said she had been questioned yesterday morning at the FBI headquarters in Washington. The interview apparently lasted three-and-a-half hours.

“Secretary Clinton gave a voluntary interview this morning about her email arrangements while she was Secretary. She is pleased to have had the opportunity to assist the Department of Justice in bringing this review to a conclusion,” said a statement by spokesman Nick Merrill, released after the interview.

“But of respect for the investigative process, she will not comment further on her interview.”

The development came a day after the US Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced that she was rescuing herself from the investigation into the issue and would allow FBI officials to decide wether Ms Clinton had committed an offence. She was obliged to do this after it appeared she had a private meeting with former President Bill Clinton when their planes were parked on the tarmac earlier in the week at Phoenix International Airport.

The issue of Ms Clinton’s use of a private email account and a private email server, located at her home in upstate New York, has been a source of repeated controversy for the former Secretary of State. It emerged as the result of an investigation into Ms Clinton’s role in the Benghazi attack, a probe that ultimately cleared her of any culpability in the incident that left four Americans dead.

Her opponents, including Donald Trump, have accused her of behaviour that could be illegal and the New York tycoon has repeatedly seized on the affair, labelling her “crooked Hillary”

Most analysts believe that Ms Clinton has handled the issue poorly, as she dug in and became defiant. It took almost a year for her to apologise for having done so, despite polls suggesting that many voters have doubts about her honesty. A Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday found that voters deemed her rival Republican Mr Trump more honest and trustworthy than her, 45 per cent to 37 per cent.

Ms Clinton, who said that predecessors such as Colin Powell also used a private email address, has always insisted that she did not use the server to send or receive classified information. The State Department has been forced to make public thousands of emails belonging to her, though a number that were deemed “personal” have been deleted.

The FBI’s main task is to decide whether or not she broke any rules in the way she handled the information she received.

The issue has hung over Ms Clinton’s election campaign. Some supporters of Senator Bernie Sanders believe it is possible Ms Clinton could be charged ahead of the November election, something that could hand the nomination to the former mayor of Burlington.