Hillary Clinton's email scandal roared back to life Friday after the FBI released a report detailing her interview with investigators.
The
top finding: Clinton seemed repeatedly unable to recall key information
about her use of a private email server as secretary of state. Here are
some other highlights from the new documents.
'I do not recall'
On
39 separate occasions, Clinton told the FBI that she did not "recall"
or remember key elements of the training or classified information
process.
What's a classification marking?
In
regards to an email with classification markings, Clinton said she did
not know what they meant and speculated it indicated paragraph markings.
According to the report, Clinton
said "she did not pay attention to the 'level' of classified
information and took all classified information seriously. CLINTON was
not concerned the displayed email contained classified information.
CLINTON believed the email amounted to a 'condolence call' and
questioned the classification level."
A level of trust
Clinton
repeatedly said she had no reason to think emails to her contained info
that was inappropriate for personal email. She said she trusted those
emailing understood what was appropriate.
"Clinton
did not recall receiving any emails she thought she should not be on an
unclassified system," the report read. "She relied on State officials
to use their judgment when emailing her and could not recall anyone
raising concerns with her regarding the sensitivity of the information
she received at her email address."
The drone program
Clinton
defended discussion of the Obama administration's controversial drone
program in emails on her server, saying she felt conversation was "part
of the routine deliberation process" and "did not give her cause for
concern" regarding classification. She recalled many conversations about
future strikes "that never occurred."
The
former secretary of state said she thought drone strike information
classification "depended on the context," noting it was an important
tool but "frequently in the press."
Hundreds had her address
Clinton
said it was well known she used that email address: "At least a
hundred, if not several hundred State employees" had that contact info.
Yet
some State employees said they did not know her actual address since
she appeared merely as the letter "H" in the sender field of the email.
And "the majority" of Clinton's aides interviewed by the FBI, including
her most senior staffers, did not know of the home server until it
became publicly reported or after Clinton left the State Department.
Skirting FOIA rules?
Clinton
said she did not have conversations with anyone "with regard to using
the server to avoid" Freedom of Information Act regulations. Clinton
denied that avoiding FOIA rules was a reason for setting up the system.
Sidney Blumenthal's role
Clinton's
correspondence with confidante Sidney Blumenthal has drawn particular
scrutiny. But Clinton said that while Blumenthal is a "prodigious"
writer, she said the information he provided was "sometimes accurate and
sometimes not."
Removing markings
Regarding
an email asking an aide to remove markings, Clinton said she was
directing him to create talking points and "had no intention to remove
classification markings." She explained she thought a "non paper" was a
way to convey the unofficial stance of the US government to foreign
governments.
The 'oh s*** moment'
Clinton's
team had an "oh s*** moment" in late March of last year, according to
the report. A few weeks after The New York Times first revealed the
information about Clinton's private email use, a person -- whose name
has been redacted -- "deleted the Clinton archive mailbox" and "used
BleachBit to delete the exported .PST files he had created on the server
system containing Clinton's emails."
Compiled by Theodore Schleifer
Culled from CNN
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