I have been curious how this plays out. I see four potential scenarios.
1. Obama pardons Hillary.
-I think this may be the most likely. The need to acknowledge that what she did was criminal is great. It is important that our nation's leaders keep certain information secret. A dangerous precedent is set if Hillary's missteps in this regard are simply ignored by the justice department. The statute is clear that careless handling of such information is criminal and does not require the burden of the prosecution to prove intent. That standard is important and necessary to preserve the integrity of our nations secrets.
-Likewise, the need to move on from a politically sensitive subject is great. Even the majority of Trump's supporters would likely rather Trump get to work on improving the lives of Americans than prosecute the case against Hillary in a new Trump justice department. This mess was left by Obama's administration that featured questionable leniency by the FBI, who did not review evidence with a grand jury, offered controversial pardons to key players, and handled the questioning of Hillary herself with kid gloves, such as allowing a key aide, Cheryl Mills, to sit in on her questioning. The justice department's top leadership was similarly stained by events, such as the tarmac meeting of Bill Clinton and Attorney General Lorretta Lynch , who herself was appointed by Bill Clinton in 1999 as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. Loretta Lynch, who pledged to recuse herself of key decisions in the case, appeared to pull strings behind the scenes against any action on the Democratic nominee for President.
2. Trump pardons Hillary
-This achieves the goal of moving on from this mess but unnecessarily stains the new President with a situation that should not have been his to deal with.
3. The new Trump justice department indicts Hillary.
-The FBI, despite attempting to take responsibility for the absence of a Clinton indictment, took the position that "no reasonable prosecutor would take the case" despite overwhelming evidence that crimes were committed. Constitutionally, this is not their decision to make. A new justice department can advance the case at their discretion. Such a move would do the most to preserve the sanctity of equal justice under the law. Unfortunately, it would also do the most of creating a distraction for the new administration to tackle its most important priorities.
4. The new Trump Justice department brings no charges against Hillary.
-This would do incredible damage to the sanctity of equal justice under the law. The US would be incredibly damaged in its ability to deter and prosecute similar careless acts of others with regard to national secrets.