Colin Powell made his first public statement since press reports indicated that Hillary Clinton told the FBI he had suggested she use a private server for her email.

Powell issued a denial immediately after the news broke, saying he had "no recollection" of any such conversation.  On Saturday night, Powell told People Magazine that Clinton was trying to blame him for the email scandal.

"Her people have been trying to pin it on me," Powell, 79, told PEOPLE Saturday night at theApollo in the Hamptons 2016 Night of Legends fête in East Hampton, New York. 

"The truth is, she was using [the private email server] for a year before I sent her a memo telling her what I did," Powell added.

Why does the former diplomat believe this to be the case? 

"Why do you think?" he said. "It doesn't bother me. But it's okay; I'm free." 

The email scandal has dogged presidential hopeful Clinton for more than a year. But federal officials decided not to pursue criminal charges after a three-and-a-half-hour interview, which was when the Democratic nominee disclosed her alleged conversation with Powell. 

The reported conversation was first brought to light in journalist Joe Conason's upcoming Bill Clinton biography, Man of the World: The Further Endeavors of Bill Clinton, in which the writer details a dinner party held by Clinton and attended by Powell, Madeleine Albright, Henry Kissinger and Condoleeza Rice.

"Toward the end of the evening, over dessert, Albright asked all of the former secretaries to offer one salient bit of counsel to the nation's next top diplomat," Conason wrote. "Powell told her to use her own email, as he had done, except for classified communications, which he had sent and received via a State Department computer ... [Powell] confirmed a decision she had made months earlier – to keep her personal account and use it for most messages."  (Emphasis added)

It's impossible to escape the conclusion that Hillary Clinton lied to the FBI.  She certainly gave a "false statement" to investigators, no matter how she remembers it.

Bill Clinton lied under oath.  Scooter Libby also lied to federal investigators.  But apparently, Libby is the only one who is going to spend any time in jail.

Another interesting tidbit being reported is that Powell advised Clinton to use an AOL email address for her routine communications – not set up a private server in her home.  Clinton came up with that one all by herself.

The media blackout on this revelation is extraordinary.  A candidate for president lied to federal investigators, and the mainstream media yawns and shrugs its shoulders.  By all rights, the FBI should open another investigation into this and other possible falsehoods Clinton gave during her interview.  The feds certainly pursued Scooter Libby with vigor.  They should do no less with Clinton.