US Judge says FBI can make details about Hillary Clinton email case public

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A US judge has ruled the FBI can make certain details about the bureau's investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while serving as Secretary of State public.

US District Judge James E Boasberg said that “after reviewing the document in camera, the court concludes that it largely rehashes information already made public, thus obviating any need for secrecy".

The judge's statement overruled objections by the Trump administration that argued making subpoenas the FBI obtained to get information from internet service providers public would violate secrecy rules of grand jury investigations.

Washington DC-based Cause of Action Institute, funded by Trump supporters like the billionaire Koch brothers, and claiming to be for transparency and "government accountability", cheered the decision.

“This order makes public details submitted by the government about the FBI’s efforts to recover then-Secretary Clinton’s unlawfully removed emails. Americans deserve to know the full scope of that investigation,” group chief John Vecchione told the Washington Times newspaper.

The investigation, conducted when former FBI Director James Comey was still in his position, centered around Ms Clinton's use of a private server in her New York home which allegedly contained State Department emails.

Questions have been raised about whether the emails on that server had classified information in them.

Mr Comey had previously testified in front of Congress that there was no reason to believe Ms Clinton had violated any US laws regarding classified material but critics of Ms Clinton's have continued to push for transparency in the case.

The FBI had previously refused the request of a lawyer that the file on the investigation be made public, citing that public interest did not outweigh Ms Clinton's own right to privacy.