"A source familiar with the FBI decision tells CNN that Comey and his FBI colleagues were "playing with the language throughout" the process, but consistently held the belief that they needed to condemn Clinton's handling of classified information while asserting they would not bring charges."
And this is the part that has conservatives up in arms. It didn't matter what their investigation would find, the fix was in, they weren't going to push for charges even before their investigation was complete. They didn't even put Clinton under oath or bother to have a transcript of the conversation. That's fucking insane. It was like they desperately wanted to avoid filling (legitimate) charges during election season. They put what they felt was the reputation of the FBI ahead of the law.