RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
And Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is in Iowa today. No surprise she's trying to fend off rival Bernie Sanders before next week's caucuses. But Clinton is fighting something else as well - multiple investigations into her decision to use a private email server as secretary of state. With us now is NPR justice correspondent, Carrie Johnson. Good morning.
CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE: Good morning, Renee.
MONTAGNE: Now, the FBI investigation into Clinton's email has been underway for months. Is there any news on that one?
JOHNSON: Well, Renee, the Justice Department and the FBI have been keeping a close hold on any information about the investigation for clear reasons. It's really politically sensitive. But it appears to involve whether any secrets were compromised and how that came to happen. The inquiry involves, Renee, not just Hillary Clinton but some of her close aides who sent her messages. And Clinton has said she's not been interviewed by the FBI, but that's something we'd expect to happen much later near the end of an investigation. Here's what Clinton said this week to the Quad-City Times about her use of a private email server.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
HILLARY CLINTON: It was a mistake. So who wants to put people through all of this? I don't want to go through it. I don't want to put, you know, a lot of my friends through it. So...
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Yeah.
CLINTON: ...It was a mistake.
JOHNSON: So to be clear, Renee, Clinton says she never sent or received anything marked classified, in other words, no intent to do anything wrong.
MONTAGNE: And, Carrie, that FBI investigation is far from the only scrutiny those Clinton emails are getting. Who else is taking a look at all of this?
JOHNSON: Well, for starters reporters - a lot of reporters and a lot of conservative groups. There are dozens of ongoing federal lawsuits to get copies of those email messages. The State Department's already made public tens of thousands of pages, and more of those emails are supposed to come out later today, Friday. But they won't be the last batch. I'm hearing we expect - we should expect at least one more email dump next month. And that's after primary voting is underway in several states.
MONTAGNE: And, you know, though, voters don't seem too interested in these emails. It's pretty much the political arena that's focused on the issue. How is it playing out in the political area these days?
JOHNSON: It's been a significant element on the campaign trail. Just in the last week or so, George W. Bush's attorney general, Michael Mukasey, published an op-ed that accuses Clinton of mishandling classified information, which is a violation of the law. And, Renee, it came up last night in the GOP debate on Fox News Channel with Senator Marco Rubio. Here he is.
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MARCO RUBIO: Hillary Clinton is disqualified from being the commander in chief of the United States. In fact one of her first acts as president may very well be to pardon herself...
(LAUGHTER)
RUBIO: ...Because Hillary Clinton - Hillary Clinton stored classified information on her private server.
MONTAGNE: Well, amusing but again Clinton denies that. What are Republicans in Congress saying about all this?
JOHNSON: Renee, Congress is not going to be in session very much this year between elections and their vacation schedules. But oversight of Hillary Clinton is going to be a key part of the Republican agenda on Capitol Hill. For instance, Senator Charles Grassley, who leads the Judiciary Committee, has sent a lot of letters to Clinton, the State Department, the Justice Department demanding information. He wants to know what the FBI is doing and whether federal agents are investigating any possible dealings between the State Department and donors to the Clinton Foundation, too.
MONTAGNE: Carrie, thanks very much.
JOHNSON: You're welcome.
MONTAGNE: That's NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson.