The FBI is looking into the security used to protect Hillary Clinton’s private email system, David Kendall, Clinton’s lawyer, said Tuesday.
The Washington Post first reported that the FBI was looking into Clinton’s private email set up during her time as Secretary of State, particularly the security used to protect information on the server that Clinton housed at her Chappaqua, New York, home. In a statement to CNN, Kendall confirmed that report.
“Quite predictably, after the IC (intelligence community) IG (inspector general) made a referral to ensure that materials remain properly stored, the government is seeking assurance about the storage of those materials,” Kendall said in a statement.
Kendall added that he and his client were “actively cooperating” with the inquiry, but Clinton’s aides looked to cast the report as old news on Tuesday night.
“WaPo story tonite doesnt change anything we knew 10 days ago after NYT fixed botched report: IG sent ask to DOJ to confirm emails are secure,” Brian Fallon, Clinton’s press secretary, tweeted shortly after the story published.
Clinton’s exclusive use of a private email at State — and the security of sensitive information on her server — has been the subject of near constant attention since the set up was reported in March.
Classified information in emails
The intelligence community and State Department inspectors general disclosed late last month that some of Hillary Clinton’s emails contained classified information that was not identified correctly. Because it was not marked as classified, it is unclear whether Clinton realized she was potentially compromising classified information.
The story of the inspectors general reports was first published by The New York Times. The paper, though, botched its report and had to alter the story after it first suggested Clinton was the focus of a federal criminal investigation. That turned out to be incorrect and though the Times issued a correction, the story was widely discredited by pro-Clinton Democrats and the Clinton campaign.
Clinton has repeatedly denied that she ever sent classified info.
“I am confident,” she said last month in New Hampshire, “that I never sent nor received any information that was classified at the time it was sent and received,” Clinton said.
Nick Merrill, Clinton’s traveling press secretary, reiterated Clinton’s statement in response to the FBI inquiry on Tuesday night.
“She did not send nor receive any emails that were marked classified at the time,” Merrill said. “We want to ensure that appropriate procedures are followed as these emails are reviewed while not unduly delaying the release of her emails. We want that to happen as quickly and as transparently as possible.”
