Fox News's Bret Baier walks back report that indictments are 'likely' in Clinton email case

Fox News anchor Bret Baier apologized Friday for saying on-air that indictments were "likely" in the FBI's investigation into Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's emails.

Baier added that he stands by his reporting into the FBI's investigation of the Clinton Foundation, and so does Fox, but he said it was a "mistake" to use the word "indictment."

“Especially in a heated election on a topic this explosive, every word matters — no matter how well-sourced,” Baier said on Fox. "Which brings me to this: I explained a couple of times yesterday the phrasing of one of my answers to [Fox host] Brit Hume on Wednesday night, saying it was inartful the way I answered the last question about whether the investigations would continue after the election. And I answered that, yes, our sources said it would, they would continue to likely an indictment."

He continued:

Well that just wasn't inartful. It was a mistake. And for that, I’m sorry. I should have said they will continue to build their case. "Indictment" obviously is a very loaded word ... especially in this atmosphere, and no one knows if there would or would not be an indictment, no matter how strong investigators feel their evidence is.

Baier said again today that his anonymous sources have confirmed that there is an ongoing investigation into the hacking of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's private email server, but as FBI Director James Comey said, there is no "direct evidence" of intrusion by hostile actors.

"As of today, there are still no digital fingerprints of a breach, no matter what the working assumption is within the bureau," Baier said.