paula reid is following it all. paula? >> reporter: secretary clinton was interviewed in the ongoing investigation into whether classified information was mishandled when she chose to use a private server during her time at the state department. she was interviewed at f.b.i. headquarters in washington for approximately 3.5 hours. her campaign released a statement saying, "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. out of respect for the investigative process, she will not comment further on her interview." this comes after days of controversy following a private meeting between clinton's husband, former president bill clinton, and attorney general loretta lynch. the attorney general addressed the controversy friday at the aspen ideas summit. >> the fact that the meeting i had is now casting a shadow over how people are going to view that

here's paula reid. >> reporter: while not many were surprised by comey's decision tuesday.catch a lot of people off-guard was the detailed explanation during that announcement. >> i am going to include more detail about our process than i ordinarily would. >> reporter: standing alen at his podium, fbi director james comey explained why he is not recommending charges against hillary clinton. >> our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case. >> reporter: it was very unusual and unique that he also outlined the investigative findings that the fbi team made. >> i, james comey. >> reporter: comey served in the bush administration as deputy attorney general. president obama tapped him to runt fbi in 2013. >> i will support and defend the constitution of the united states. >> reporter: despite his bipartisan resume, comey is taking heat from republicans for tuesday's announcement including from the presumptive nominee. >> it turned out that we are not going to press charges it is really amazing. >> reporter: comey collected battle scars from both side of th

paula reid reports. >> i was pleased to have the opportunity to assist the department in bringing itsiew to a conclusion. >> reporter: cbs news learned the fbi interview of secretary clinton is one of the final steps in the investigation into a private e-mail server. >> i will continue to, you know, be as forthcoming as i can and my answers that i first gave more than a year ago, i sand by. >> reporter: her interview came after days of controversy over a private meeting between former president bill clinton and attorney general loretta lynch. both have said they regret the meeting. >> i wouldn't do it again. >> reporter: lynch said she will accept whatever investigation, and that will not quiet critics. donald trump tweeted does any body really believe that bill clinton and the usag talked only about grand kids and golf for 37 minutes in a plane on tarmac. others are calling for lynch to recuse herself and appoint a special prosecutor. >> she has not fully rekutzed herself it raises question about political interference. >> reporter: the investigation is expected to wrap up before the

paula reid is in washington and has more information from the questioning. aula, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. that interview happened here in washington and a sign that the investigation is likely nearing an end, she spoke out publicly about the meeting. >> i was pleased to have the opportunity to assist the department in bringing its review to a conclusion. >> cbs news has learned the fbi interview is the last step into her e-mail server. >> i will continue to, you know, be as forthcoming as i can, and my answers that i first gave more than a year ago, i stand by. >> her interview came after days of controversy over a private meeting between former president bill clinton and attorney general loretta lynch. both have said they regreet the meeting. >> i certainly wouldn't do it again. >> lynch said she'll accept whatever investigation they -- it has not quieted her critics. >> donald trump says does anybody really believe that bill clinton and the usag talked only about grand kids and golf for 37 minutes on a plane on tarmac. other republicans are

. >> reporter paula reid covers the justice department for us. le, but it does not mean she's stepping aside. so what does it mean? >> that's exactly right. she is not recusing or removing herself from the case. what she has said is she will take any recommendation that comes to her from the fbi investigators and career department of justice prosecutors who are working on this case. now, with most of these investigations the fbi looks at all the evidence, they talk to prosecutors and they make a recommendation to the attorney general who can go with that recommendation or decide to make lesser charges or more significant charges. so here she's giving up that role as the final decider and says she will take whatever recommendation comes her way. >> why didn't she simply recuse herself entirely? >> charlie, i think the reason she didn't want to step off this case is she didn't want to risk a political appointee coming in and then having power over the case. she could have also passed it along to her deputy attorney general sally yates. but loretta l

paula reid is in washington looking at how comey's track record prepared him for yesterday's ruling.sed by comey's decision on tuesday. what did catch a lot of people off guard was his detailed explanation during that announcement. >> i'm going to include more detail about our process than i ordinarily would. >> reporter: standing alone on his podium on tuesday, fbi director james comey explained why he is not recommending charges against hillary clinton. >> our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case. >> it was very unusual and unique that he also outlined the investigative findings that the fbi team made. >> reporter: comey bush administration as deputy attorney general. president obama tapped him to run the fbi in 2013. >> i will support and defend the constitution of the united states. >> reporter: he is taking heat from tuesday's announcement including from the presumptive nominee. >> it turned out that we are not going press charges. it's really amazing. >> reporter: comey has collected battle scars from both sides of the aisle. he clashed with the oba