The "big news" of the day, I guess, is that Hillary's turned over her private e-mail server to the FBI, along with a thumb drive with her backed up e-mails that was in her lawyer's possession. Reports indicate that some of the e-mails on her server contained "top secret" information, which contradicts her previous statements, and raises question about security.
There has been no evidence, at this point, that any of this information was actually obtained b anyone who was not supposed to have it, however. But, there are a number of questions about this whole thing, and what exactly is going on is not at all clear. Based upon some of the reports, its possible that this seems a lot worse than it actually is.
First,McClatchy reports that "two emails on her private account have been classified as 'Top Secret.'"
In addition, two other e-mails (according to the intelligence Community inspector general) also contained classified information. So, out of all the e-mails inspected, only 4 contained "classified" material, two of which contained "top secret" material.
But, this is where it gets a bit arcane.
In a statement to Poiltico, the State Department indicated that this was much less damning than it appears.
"State spokesperson John Kirby confirmed in an email, “The Intelligence Community has recommended that portions of two of the four emails identified by the Intelligence Community’s Inspector General should be upgraded to the Top Secret level.” “Department employees circulated these emails on unclassified systems in 2009 and 2011 and ultimately some were forwarded to Secretary Clinton,” the statement continued, but added this important caveat. “They were not marked as classified.”But, as to the other two:
The ICIG said two additional emails it found were also classified by the State Department at the time they were sent, but it’s awaiting notification from State on the exact level of classification.It's not clear that Hillary sent any of the e-mails in question. This may explain why several of Hillary's aids at the State Department, including Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills appear to be under investigation.
This latter statement also contradicts earlier reports that none of the information/emails was designated as "classified" at the time. As Politico reported on July 30th:
Clinton had insisted she never kept classified documents on her home-brewed email server, but a source familiar with the documents confirmed to POLITICO they included intelligence from the CIA, NSA, Director of National Intelligence, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. The watchdog, however, said the information was not “marked” classified, so Clinton may not have known it was a national security concern.It also contradicts the McClatchy report, which reported that "the two inspectors general said the material in Clinton’s email was not marked as classified at the time.
So, what exactly is going on?
1. Hillary turned over a large cache of e-mails to the State Department. Some of which contained classified information, but apparently were ot marked as classified at the time.
2. Hillary did not turn over any e-mails that she and her attorney determined to be strictly private.
3. Her attorney, who apparently has a security clearance, kept a copy of her State Department e-mails on a thumb drive (although they were turned over to the State Department previously).
The FBI has asked for, and has now received, her private server, and the thumb drive as part of their investigation. They are also investigating whether the server was secure, and are investigating the Colorado company that handled its management.
Here is what has NOT been proven:
1. That Hillary knowingly kept classified material on her private server, 2. That her private server or email was in any way compromised by a foreign power or hacker; 3. That the server was not secured properly;
This all turns on a charge that the Obama administration has a double standard for low level folks who mishandle classified materials, and high level folks (like David Patraeus) or...Hillary Clinton.
In any case, if anyone has any additional details, feel free to add them in comments.