WASHINGTON (AP) -- Attorney General Loretta Lynch says the Hillary Clinton email investigation is being closed without any criminal charges.
Lynch announced the Justice Department decision Wednesday, one day after FBI Director James Comey recommended against any prosecution.
The decision was largely a formality given Comey's public statement on the case.
Lynch said last week that she intended to accept whatever recommendations and findings were presented by the FBI and by her career prosecutors.
Irate House Republicans have already announced their intentions to call up Comey for questioning over his decision, saying there has been "nothing but stonewalling and dishonesty" from Clinton.
MORE | House Republicans will discuss lack of Clinton charges with FBI director
Democrats criticized the move, saying Republicans had repeatedly praised Comey's independence in the past.
"Republican after Republican praised Director Comey's impeccable record of independence … right up until the moment he issued his conclusion," said the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee's top Democrat, Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland. "The only emergency here is that yet another Republican conspiracy theory is slipping away."
For his part, Comey had this to say at the end of his statement Tuesday: "I know there will be intense public debate in the wake of this recommendation, as there was throughout the investigation. What I can assure the American people is that this investigation was done honestly, confidently and independently. No outside influence of any kind was brought to bear."
