Hillary Clinton repeated on Friday that she did not realise she was transmitting highly classified government secrets through her private email server while USA secretary of state in her first remarks since a federal investigation found this happened at least 110 times.
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“You’ve set a precedent and it’s a risky precedent. that there’s going to be no consequences”, said Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz, who leads the House of Representatives’ government oversight panel.
Comey said it would depend on the circumstances.
Comey tells a House committee that the FBI’s “best information” is that Clinton set up the private server “as a matter of convenience”.
He said during a press conference on Tuesday that while FBI investigators found no “direct evidence” that Clinton’s email domain was successfully hacked, he assessed that “it is possible that hostile actors gained access to Secretary Clinton’s personal email account”. However, Comey said today that the FBI’s investigation found that out of 30,000 messages provided by Clinton to the State Department, 110 in 52 email chains contained information that was classified at the time. Comey’s use of “extreme carelessness” is his way of acknowledging Clinton’s misconduct without triggering the “gross negligence” standard in federal law.
Comey added that because those emails were not marked at the headers, it might have been reasonable for Clinton not to know that those parts were classified.
Notice how Clinton continually used the words “marked classified” in an effort to make it seem less like she put sensitive USA information at risk.
“I don’t think that our investigation established she was actually particularly sophisticated with respect to classified information and the levels and treatment”, Comey said while under oath to lawmakers.
FBI Director James Comey testifies Thursday during a hearing before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Clinton said Friday that she exchanged emails with about 300 people, mostly at the State Department, who were experienced with handling classified information.
Comey replied: “She used multiple devices during the four years of her term as secretary of state”.
Clinton again acknowledged that use of the private server was a mistake and said, “I would certainly not do that again”.
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On Thursday, Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan called for Clinton to be blocked from receiving classified briefings during her presidential run in order to sanction her for improperly handling classified emails while serving as secretary of state. In a different year, with a Republican nominee other than Donald Trump, it seems plausible that this would derail Clinton’s candidacy, forcing the Democrats to scramble to find a replacement.
