By Del Quentin Wilber. Federal prosecutors investigating the possible mishandling of classified materials on Hillary Clinton’s private email server have begun the process of setting up formal interviews with some of her longtime and closest aides, according to two people familiar with the probe, an indication that the inquiry is moving into its final phases.

Those interviews and the final review of the case, however, could still take many weeks, all but guaranteeing that the investigation will continue to dog Clinton’s presidential campaign through most, if not all, of the remaining presidential primaries.

No dates have been set for questioning the advisors, but a federal prosecutor in recent weeks has called their lawyers to alert them that he would soon be doing so, the sources said. Prosecutors also are expected to seek an interview with Clinton herself, though the timing remains unclear.

The interviews by FBI agents and prosecutors will play a significant role in helping them better understand whether Clinton or her aides knowingly or negligently discussed classified government secrets over a non-secure email system when she served as secretary of State. (Read more from “Clinton Email Probe Enters New Phase as FBI Interviews Loom” HERE)

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FBI Says It Has Limited Records on Clinton Email Case

By Josh Gerstein. The FBI hasn’t traded any correspondence with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton or her representatives in the course of the law enforcement agency’s “active, ongoing investigation” of the private email account and server she used as secretary of state, an FBI official told a federal court on Friday.

Responding to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit for FBI records about the probe, which is believed to have been underway for about nine months, FBI records official David Hardy said his agency had only a smattering of correspondence with the State Department about the matter and no records at all of authorizations to discuss the Clinton email inquiry with the media or other outside parties.

The suit, filed by Vice News reporter Jason Leopold, also sought copies of all emails and other files the FBI has managed to retrieve from Clinton’s server and backup devices such as thumb drives. The FBI appeared to acknowledge that some such records exist but said releasing them at this time could impair the probe.

“Any records responsive [to that request] still cannot be disclosed without adversely affecting the pending investigation,” Hardy said in a written declaration. The FBI official wrote that he was limited in what he could say publicly about the inquiry, but he added that the agency was submitting a classified declaration to U.S. District Court Judge Randolph Moss with more details about the probe. (Read more from “FBI Says It Has Limited Records on Clinton Email Case” HERE)

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Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York City, slammed Hillary Clinton during a recent Fox News broadcast, telling host Bill O’Reilly and the millions of watchers the former secretary of State is a big reason why ISIS exists.

“I mean, Hillary Clinton could be considered a founding member of ISIS,” he said, the Hill reported.

He said Clinton had ample opportunity to deal with the terror group during her State Department tenure, but she refused and will instead go down in history as “part of an administration that withdrew from Iraq,” he said.

“By being part of an administration that let Maliki run Iraq … into the ground,” Giuliani said, the Hill reported, “[she] forced the Shiites to make a choice, by not intervening in Syria in the proper time.”

O’Reilly suggested Clinton wasn’t really that culpable for the rise of ISIS because she never held the power to force President Obama to do something he didn’t want to do. But Giuliani said it’s such politicking that makes her a poor choice for president. (Read more from “Giuliani Suggests Hillary ‘Founding Member of ISIS'” HERE)

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By Maggie Haberman and Michael D. Shear. In unusually candid remarks, President Obama privately told a group of Democratic donors last Friday that Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont was nearing the point at which his campaign against Hillary Clinton would end, and that the party must soon come together to back her.

Mr. Obama acknowledged that Mrs. Clinton was perceived to have weaknesses as a candidate, and that some Democrats did not view her as authentic . . .

Mr. Obama made the remarks after reporters had left a fund-raising event in Austin, Tex., for the Democratic National Committee. The comments were described by three people in the room for the event, all of whom were granted anonymity to describe a candid moment with the president. The comments were later confirmed by a White House official. (Read more from “Obama Is ‘Privately’ Doing Something Major for Hillary Clinton” HERE)

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Sanders Fights for Life as Clinton Wins Another State, Obama Turns Screws

By Fox News. Bernie Sanders, still insisting he has a fighting chance to capture the Democratic presidential nomination, ratcheted up his campaign schedule Friday to hit all three Western states voting next week as he scrambles to recover from Hillary Clinton’s recent five-state sweep – while President Obama applies pressure from the outside on the Vermont senator’s underdog bid.

Overnight, Clinton was declared the winner of the last remaining unresolved primary from Tuesday’s five contests, in Missouri. Sanders said he won’t seek a recount in the tight race.

But, speaking with the Associated Press, he maintained he can still close the delegate gap.

“I don’t believe they have an insurmountable lead,” Sanders said Thursday from Arizona, where he was campaigning. “Secretary Clinton has done phenomenally well in the Deep South and in Florida. That’s where she has gotten the lion’s share of votes. And I congratulate her for that. But we’re out of the Deep South now.” (Read more from “Sanders Fights for Life as Clinton Wins Another State, Obama Turns Screws” HERE)

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