Bernie Sanders superfans want to be saved by the F.B.I.

Maybe Bernie Sanders fans aren't so sick of hearing about Hillary Clinton's "damn emails" after all. As it appears more and more likely that Clinton will be the Democratic nominee for president, some Sanders supporters see an opportunity for their candidate to get ahead if only the F.B.I. would act, and quick.

"[Clinton] should be removed," Julie Cowell of Tustin, California, told The New York Times. "I don't know why she's not already been told, 'You can't run because you're being investigated.' I don't know how that's not a thing."

Sanders superfans are calling Clinton's use of a private email server while serving as secretary of state an unforgivable transgression that should disqualify her from running for president — an opinion also held by many of her opponents on the right. In fact, some polls have even indicated that as many as a third of Sanders supporters would ultimately pick Donald Trump if it came down to him and Clinton.

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"I'm hoping that the F.B.I. sends a strong message to people like [Clinton], as well as other people in politics who are using their position of power to manipulate the system for their own personal advancement. She feels like she can do whatever she wants with absolute impunity, and that she somehow is above any type of repercussions," Jennifer Peters, 28, of Costa Mesa, California, said.

Earlier this week, an internal audit by the State Department sharply criticized Clinton for failing to request permission to use her personal server, permission that the Office of the Inspector General said "would not" have been approved due to "the security risks in doing so."