The FBI just released notes from its July 2 interview with Hillary Clinton about her use of a private, unsecured email server during her tenure as secretary of State. Their findings don’t look good for Clinton.
Days after the interview, which was not recorded, FBI director James Comey publicly held a press conference urging the Department of Justice not to press any criminal charges against Clinton, despite her “extremely careless” handling of classified information.
In the FBI report, Clinton made statements that appear to either contradict her earlier remarks about the email scandal or to be flat-out lies.
Clinton has repeatedly said she has turned over all of her work-related emails on her private server, but the FBI report stated they found 17,448 emails she failed to turn over to the Inspector General.
There were 17,448 work-related emails that Clinton didn't turn over to the State Inspector General pic.twitter.com/aTINI54PBh
— Chris Cillizza (@ChrisCillizza) September 2, 2016
Several weeks after the initial New York Times story broke in March 2015, revealing the existence of Clinton’s private email server, a bunch of these emails were deleted.
https://twitter.com/lachlan/status/771777796368633856
Clinton told the FBI that she didn’t pay attention to the different levels of classification, and that she didn’t understand that an email containing a “(C)” meant “confidential,” but that she thought they were marked “alphabetical order.”
Her claims of ignorance — whether they’re true or not — violate an agreement she signed during her first day on the job in the State Department.
From the very beginning of her tenure as secretary of State, Clinton signed a non-disclosure agreement acknowledging that it was her responsibility to ascertain whether documents contained sensitive information. She also acknowledged the criminal penalties she would face if she disclosed government secrets.
Clinton told FBI she didn't know a "(C)" denoted classified information. She "could only speculate it was… marked in alphabetical order.”
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) September 2, 2016
You worked 8 years in the Senate and 4 as Sec State.
Ms. Clinton, What does the "C" stand for within your emails? pic.twitter.com/wkaYkbj6oQ
— Max Q ⚡ (@Randy_Shannon) September 2, 2016
In 2011, State Department employees reportedly received a memo sent on Clinton’s behalf warning them against using personal email accounts for official business, as it could put sensitive information at risk. She told the FBI she didn’t remember sending that memo.
Whenever she upgraded to a new device, the State Department would sometimes lose track of her old ones. On two occasions, staffers destroyed her old devices by beating it with a hammer.
https://twitter.com/j_fuller/status/771762665794506753
This is literally… LITERALLY… Hillary's info security strategy pic.twitter.com/c43Zdn3ASC
— PoliMath (@politicalmath) September 2, 2016
Throughout her time in the State Department, Hillary Clinton went through 13 different Blackberry devices — none of which she found or turned over to the FBI.
Former secretary of State Colin Powell warned Clinton about the dangers of using a personal device, because if it came out, then all her private emails would be subject to public scrutiny — a conversation she refuses to talk about publicly.
You can read the FBI’s notes of their interview with Clinton here.
FBI Hillary Clinton Email Notes 1/2 by Justin Gren on Scribd
FBI Hillary Clinton Email Notes 2/2 by Justin Gren on Scribd
