The State Department argued Tuesday that there was no conflict of interest created when the department hired outside specialists to inspect and decide which of Hillary Clinton's private emails to release, even though one of those came from the same law firm that is representing Clinton in the case.

The Office of the Intelligence Community Inspector General has raised the idea that hiring a lawyer from Williams and Connolly, which represents Clinton, created at least the appearance of a conflict of interest.

But State Department spokesman Mark Toner rejected that idea.

"We have the utmost confidence that these attorneys performed to the highest professional and ethical standards, and that includes in connection with the review and release of Secretary Clinton's emails," he said.

"The mere fact of previously working at... what is a very large law firm does not in an of itself constitute a conflict of interest," Toner added.

He later repeated the idea that there is no conflict because Williams and Connolly is a "large" firm.

"Williams and Connolly ... is a very large firm, and we are not aware of any counsel working on Clinton-related oversight matters, at the department ... that they did so prior to joining the department. So there's no conflict of interest there."

"There was no conflict of interest," he added, because the lawyer who was hired wasn't working on Clinton-related issues when she was at the law firm.