Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton makes a concession speech after being defeated by Republican president-elect Donald Trump in New York on Nov. 9, 2016. (Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images)

State Department Says 15 Officials Broke Security Rules Linked to Clinton Emails

The State Department identified 15 people involved in multiple security violations connected to the handling of classified information as a result of Hillary Clinton’s use of an unauthorized email server.

Clinton used a private email server for government work while she was secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.

In a security review of the mishandling of classified information, the State Department has issued 23 violations and seven infractions that were carried out by 15 current or former employees, according to Mary Elizabeth Taylor, the assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs.

Taylor revealed the details in a June 5 letter (pdf) to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), who is leading the congressional oversight of the security review.

“To this point, the Department has assessed culpability to 15 individuals, some of whom were culpable in multiple security incidents,” Taylor wrote in the letter. “This number will likely change as the review progresses.”

She indicated that, due to longstanding policy, the identity of the individuals and their current employment status at the State Department have not been disclosed.

Taylor added that those who were found with a security violation, or three or more infractions, have been referred for documentation and possible discipline, which can include “counseling, reprimand, suspension, and/or separation.” She also promised to provide more details once the investigation is complete.

Taylor’s letter is a response to Grassley’s inquiry in January (pdf) about the status of the security review. He first sought information about the department’s investigation in March 2017.

The State Department has been releasing Clinton emails under the Freedom of Information Act on its website on a monthly basis.

In July 2016, then-FBI Director James Comey publicly recommended that no charges be brought against Clinton, who was then a candidate for president. However, he noted that Clinton and her colleagues were “extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information.”

The FBI’s investigation was rife with inconsistencies, including FBI officials likely ignoring a major lead. The Department of Justice also prevented the FBI from pursuing gross negligence charges against Clinton.

According to documents obtained by Judicial Watch, top officials under the Obama administration had known that Clinton was using a private email system three years before it became public knowledge in March 2015.

Trump’s Comments on Clinton Emails

President Donald Trump said that Clinton “should be in jail” in a recent interview with ABC News. The president mentioned that Clinton was involved in the deletion of 33,000 of her emails that were being sought by Congress. The FBI was only able to recover about 5,000 of the 33,000 emails.

“She deleted 33,000 emails … they gave a subpoena to Hillary Clinton for 33,000 emails. After the subpoena was gotten, she deleted them. That’s called obstruction,” Trump said.

“And her lawyer should also be looked at because her lawyer—she’s got to have the greatest lawyer on earth because she does that, he did the deleting supposedly—not only did they delete, but they acid-washed them,” Trump added.

Trump suggested in August 2018 that Clinton’s emails were hacked by China. The president was likely referring to a report that had been released days earlier by the Daily Caller, citing two anonymous sources, claiming that a Chinese-owned company operating in the Washington area obtained nearly all of Clinton’s emails. The firm had reportedly received Clinton’s emails in real time using a code embedded on her private email server while she was secretary of state, the report alleged.



Ivan Pentchoukov and Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.

From NTD News