“These documents were not marked classified at the time they were sent”, Mr Kirby told a news briefing, explaining that the emails had been reviewed prior to public release and found to contain “top secret” information. The State Department has yet to disclose whether it is retroactively classifying information in the 22 withheld emails, or whether that information was already designated “top secret” when sent, contradicting Clinton’s claims.
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The revelation comes just three days before Mrs Clinton faces the first vote, in the Midwestern state of Iowa, of the 2016 presidential election season. “We feel no differently today”, said Brian Fallon, secretary of Hillary for America National Press. “This appears to be over-classification run amok”, the campaign said in statement.
News coverage of most releases have largely highlighted quirky office routines and humorous requests and responses from Clinton, but Friday’s announcement triggered criticism from her GOP rivals about her decision to use a private email server, which has hung over her presidential campaign from its start. Independent experts have suggested that actual charges against Clinton are highly unlikely, as publicly available evidence has to indicate that she broke any laws.
Kirby also said 18 emails, comprised of eight email chains between Clinton and President Barack Obama, are being “withheld in full” to “protect the President’s ability to receive unvarnished advice and counsel”.
So far, officials haven’t really described what’s in the emails or even if Clinton sent them. Kirby said the department’s decision to not include messages between Clinton and the president had been “widely covered months ago”.
In one, Clinton received secret information relating to Afghanistan that, as shown by the redaction code, came from “Intelligence activities (including covert action), intelligence sources or methods, or cryptology”, on her private, unsecure server.
The AP reported last August that one focused on a forwarded news article about the CIA’s classified US drone program.
What’s not clear, however, is whether any of the information was classified at the time of transmission. Clinton says she’s never sent or received any emails marked classified, Audie. But the State Department had declined to concur with the assessment, allowing Clinton and her supporters to ascribe some concerns about the presence of government secrets in her emails to disputes between agencies.
The Clinton campaign issued a statement Friday denying the documents contain any sensitive government secrets. Republicans jumped on the chance to throw mud on the Clinton campaign wall, hoping this time something will stick. The top secret emails revealed today won’t be released in any way; they’ll simply be withheld. But in a late-night court filing this week, authorities said about 7,000 more pages are not yet ready for release. In recent weeks she has more often said none of her emails were marked that way. Bernie Sanders and it’s unknown how much, or if the email issue will impact the primary.
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The department on Friday is releasing 1,000 pages of documents culled from the personal e-mail system that Clinton used while secretary of state.
