Like the secretary of state, the director of the CIA was considered a cabinet-level official at the time of the DOJ probe. “I think the Deutch case, as sensitive as it was, was a little less sensitive than the Hillary Clinton case, because she’s running for president,” says one national-security lawyer. “I can understand why [Clinton’s case] may move a little slower, because this is radioactive stuff, right?”
But, he adds, Loretta Lynch is no Janet Reno. “When she was a U.S. attorney in New York she put a lot of Democrats in jail, as well as Republicans,” he says.

Given the intense scrutiny and the alleged volume of e-mails Clinton put at risk, a criminal investigation seems inevitable — even if the Justice Department ultimately declines to prosecute. “I don’t see how they get away with not at least opening a case,” the lawyer says.

Moss is less sure of the outcome. “It’s a little odd how they’re handling it,” he says. “I’d rather take my odds in Vegas than figure out what the DOJ is going to do here.”