Hillary Clinton on Friday sought to downplay the latest twist in the long-running scandal over her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state, saying reports of a possible criminal probe are full of inaccuracies.

News emerged on Thursday evening that at least one inspector general passed to the Justice Department evidence of potential mishandling of classified information, a referral that could lead to a criminal investigation.


Clinton on Friday said people are getting worked up over not much. “Maybe the heat is getting to everybody,” she said, in remarks before a policy speech in New York on Wall Street.

She went on to express frustration over what she called erroneous reporting. “We all have a responsibility to get this right. I have released 55,000 pages of emails. I have said repeatedly that I will answer questions before the House committee. We are all accountable to get the facts right. I will do my part. But I’m also going to stay focused on the issues, particularly the big issues that really matter to American families.”

Clinton appeared to be loose with her phrasing, however. She has not personally released any emails to the public — only to the State Department, which is reviewing them for release in monthly batches.

The controversy has dogged Clinton for five months, at times overshadowing her on the campaign trail, and presenting one of the biggest outstanding risks to her bid for the presidency. The revelation that she used a private account, which represented a break from State Department protocol, has reinforced the reputation that the Clintons are secretive and operate by a different set of rules.

The scandal could get more serious if a criminal probe is initiated, but it’s not clear when or if that will happen, and there have been evolving reports in the past 24 hours.

The New York Times first reported the referral, and ended up making subtle, but significant alterations to its story late Thursday night, apparently in response to criticism from the Clinton campaign. The paper later attached a correction to the online story, saying a prior version misstated the nature of the referral to the Justice Department due to misinformation from senior government officials.

Clinton spokesperson Nick Merrill said about the New York Times story, “Contrary to the initial story, which has already been significantly revised, she followed appropriate practices in dealing with classified materials. As has been reported on multiple occasions, any released emails deemed classified by the administration have been done so after the fact, and not at the time they were transmitted.”

Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon said the campaign is pleased about the New York Times’ correction but said the situation should have never happened.

“I think they got taken for a ride here by partisan sources,” Fallon said on MSNBC’s “Now with Alex Wagner” Friday.

He also criticized House Speaker John Boehner renewed demand that Clinton turn over her server immediately. He cited two inspectors general calling on the Justice Department to probe Clinton’s mishandling of classified email.

“These statements that you’ve seen today from Speaker Boehner have deliberately mischaracterized” the situation, Fallon said.

In an attempt to clarify reports, a Justice Department official said on Friday, “The Department has received a referral related to the potential compromise of classified information. It is not a criminal referral.”

A spokeswoman for I. Charles McCullough III, the intelligence community’s inspector general, confirmed that MCullough had contacted the FBI about a “potential compromise of classified information” regarding Clinton’s email.

“It was a counterintelligence referral to the proper office at the FBI. It’s up to them how to proceed,” said the spokeswoman, Andrea Williams. “We also referred it to the appropriate security officials within the Intelligence Community. Our office is statutorily required to refer compromises of national security information. IG’s don’t work compromise cases.”

In a letter sent to Congress late Thursday, McCullough said the State Department’s recent releases of some of Clinton’s emails — disclosures prompted by Freedom of Information Act requests and a court order for monthly posting of the emails online — had already led to “an inadvertent release of classified national security information.” The State Department disputes that the information was classified, McCullough said.

McCullough also said he was concerned that Clinton’s private attorney, David Kendall, reportedly continues to have copies on a thumb drive of the roughly 30,000 emails the former secretary returned to State in December at the agency’s request.

Clinton campaign spokesmen had no immediate comment on the claim about the thumb drive. The campaign has rebuffed prior questions about what was done with the contents of about 26 emails State has deemed classified in the past two months.

The overall impact of the scandal so far is hard to determine, but polling numbers show worrying signs. A Quinnipiac University Swing State Poll found last month that a majority of voters in three key swing states view Hillary Clinton as not honest and trustworthy.

Much of the dispute has revolved around the question of whether Clinton inappropriately was using her personal server to communicate about classified information.

Clinton has denied anything inappropriate.

“I did not email any classified material to anyone on my email,” she said in March. “There is no classified material. So I’m certainly well aware of the classification requirements and did not send classified material.”

But some of the emails have been deemed classified at later dates, muddling the issue.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, the lead Democrat on the House Select Committee on Benghazi, which is probing Clinton’s email use, rose to her defense on Friday.

“The Benghazi Select Committee has obtained zero evidence that any emails to or from Secretary Clinton were marked as classified at the time they were transmitted, although some have been retroactively classified since then,” Cummings said. “This is the latest example in a series of inaccurate leaks to generate false front-page headlines — only to be corrected later — and they have absolutely nothing to do with the attacks in Benghazi or protecting our diplomatic corps overseas.”

Meanwhile, Republicans pounced on the latest revelation.

“Now we learn that Hillary Clinton’s desire to play by her own rules may have further exposed classified information,” Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement. “While a full investigation by the Justice Department is not just needed, but required, Hillary Clinton must also hand her entire secret server over to an independent third party for further review.”

The State Department is looking over more than 55,000 pages of correspondence provided by Clinton after her private email practices were made public. So far, 3,000 pages have been released, including some emails with redactions.

State Department spokesman Alec Gerlach said in a statement: “We are working with both the State IG and the Intelligence Community’s inspector general to ensure that our review of former Secretary Clinton’s emails is completed in a manner that protects sensitive and potentially classified information.”

The dispute over Clinton’s emails is playing out in multiple arenas, including federal court. Last week, State Department lawyers came under questioning by a federal judge regarding multiple pending Freedom of Information Act request from The Associated Press.

POLITICO obtained a transcript of remarks by U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Leon, who initiated the questioning.

“I want to find out what’s been going on over there — I should say, what’s not been going on over there,” he said, adding that the State Department “has been, to say the least, recalcitrant in responding.”

Dylan Byers, Nick Gass and Eliza Collins contributed to this report.