Loretta Lynch, the US Attorney General, announced she will not make the decision on whether to charge Hillary Clinton over her email scandal following a major row over impartiality.
President Barack Obamas's top lawyer found herself at the centre of a political storm after it emerged this week that she had met with Bill Clinton while the Department of Justice, which she heads, was investigating his wife.
Speaking in Aspen, Colorado Ms Lynch said she was mot recusing herself from the case but would rubber stamp recommendations made by prosecutors in her department and investigators at the FBI.
She said: "I will be accepting their recommendations. Certainly my meeting with him (Mr Clinton) raised questions. I completely get that question
"I certainly wouldn't do it again because it has cast a shadow and I take that seriously, deeply and painfully."
She hoped her statement would "give people faith in the ultimate decision".
The investigation into Mrs Clinton centres on whether she broke the law by using a private email server when she was US Secretary of State.
A decision to charge her could torpedo her presidential campaign.
Ms Lynch said Mr Clinton boarded he plane in Phoenix for a social visit and they talked about travel, grandchildren and golf.
Furious Republicans said it had compromised the email investigation and called for the appointment of an independent prosecutor.
Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, said: "The system is totally rigged. Does anybody really believe that meeting was just a coincidence?
"Bill Clinton's meeting was a total secret. Nobody was to know about it but he was caught."
It came as Mr Trump began formally vetting potential running mates with Newt Gingrich, the former House Speaker, and Chris Christie, the New Jersey governor, the favourites.
On the campaign trail Mr Trump said he wanted Nato troops to "take out" Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
At a rally in New Hampshire a woman asked Mr Trump to "get rid of all the heejabies" worn by female Muslim employees of the Transport Security Administration which guards airports. She was apparently referring to hijabs.
Mr Trump replied: "I understand. And we are looking at that. We're looking into a lot of things."
When a plane flew over the rally Mr Trump said: "That could be a Mexican plane up there, they're getting ready to attack."
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