A Republican did. Secretary Powell.
Could you provide a reference for that?
Secretary Colin Powell used a SIPRNET computer on his desk to transmit and receive classified information as is required by policy and law. Fact is that at the time of he was SecState the State Department's NIPRNET side was inadequate and inefficient so he used a private account for unclassified information not for classified traffic (unlike Mrs. Clinton). Subsequent to his time at the SecState the DoS had, at his direction, set up a better, more secure and more efficient state.gov system and it became DoS policy to use it for all official unclassified business, (a policy Mrs. Clinton clearly violated per the IG report).
In the defense of Mrs Clinton, media reported Secretary Powell received two confidential messages. Mr. Powel said he had read the two messages in question, having been made aware of claim. He indicated the messages originated with ambassadors -- one in the Philippines, the other in Europe. He said they were first circulated on unclassified State Department systems, and sent to his personal account by his assistant. They were subsequently classified as part of the review over ten years later apparently in conjunction with the inquiry into Mrs. Clinton's email classification.
"They were unclassified at the time, and they are, in my judgment, still unclassified," he said. Other than that, I have not seen any information as to any classified material relating to what Mr. Powel sent nor any evidence he warehoused classified information or maintained a private email server(s) as did Mrs. Clinton and I'd be interested in seeing some.
This is in contrast to Mrs. Clinton's over two thousand items marked as classified information as well as the three of the 113 emails containing information classified at the time were among the “several thousand” work-related messages Mrs. Clinton deleted in 2014, alleging they were strictly personal.
It's interesting to compare Director Comey's announced findings as evidence that the security culture of the State Department in general, and with respect to use of unclassified e-mail systems in particular, was generally lacking in the kind of care for classified information found elsewhere in the government. I bet the families of the four Americans that were murdered in Benghazi might agree. It certainly speaks to her leadership.
Anyone curious is free to read 18 US Code 793: "Gathering, transmitting or losing defense information and compare it to Director Comey's news conference earlier today. Like Pete, I've seen military careers destroyed for far less.
As I posted before, I never expected Mrs. Clinton to be prosecuted. I figured they would blame the faceless "little people" in the state department, a-la Fast and Furious, the IRS scandal, White House leaked secrets etc.
Finally, isn't it ironic that Director Comey stated "To be clear, this is not to suggest that in similar circumstances, a person who engaged in this activity would face no consequences,” Comey added. “To the contrary, those individuals are often subject to security or administrative sanctions". He apparently left out "unless you're a Clinton"...
You can read a text of his statement here:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/text-of-fbi-director-comeys-statement-on-clinton-emails-2016-07-05
