Clinton Emails Had Classified Information Says Inspector General
Emails sent by then-Secretary of State Hilary Clinton from her private server contained classified information, according to an investigation conducted by the inspector general for the intelligence community.
CNN reports the inspector general’s findings were revealed in a letter about the Clinton emails sent to members of Congress. IG Charles McCullough reportedly inspected a sampling of 40 Clinton emails as part of his investigation.
“Four contained classified [intelligence community] information,” he wrote in the letter to Congress.
McCullough wrote that none of the Clinton emails were marked as classified, but that the four in question “should have been handled as classified, appropriately marked, and transmitted via a secure network.”
CNN reports that an IG spokesperson confirmed that the information in the Clinton emails was classified at the time they were sent and remains classified at this time.
Because the inspector general only looked at 40 Clinton emails out of a pool of approximately 30,000, the full extent of classified information put at risk is unknown. However, the IG’s office reports that State Department Freedom of Information Act officials confirm “there are potentially hundreds” of Clinton emails with classified information.
The report runs counter to statements Clinton made about emails sent during her time as Secretary of State.
“I did not email any classified material to anyone on my email,” Clinton said at a news conference in March. “I’m certainly well aware of the classified requirements and did not send classified material.”
Almost immediately after the letter was received, Republican members of Congress took the opportunity to comment on the Clinton emails and call for the Democratic presidential hopeful to turn over her servers for independent examination.
“What these reports demonstrate is the inherent risk of conducting our nation’s diplomacy and foreign policy on your home email and personal server,” House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio said in a statement. “Her poor judgment has undermined our national security.”
Time reports that as a result of the IG findings, a request has been made that the Department of Justice conducts its own investigation into the Clinton emails. At this time, however, the Department of Justice has yet to issue a statement as to whether an investigation will begin or who would be the subject of the investigation.
“The Department has received a referral related to the potential compromise of classified information,” a Department of Justice official told Time. “It is not a criminal referral.”
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