On Monday afternoon, MSNBC's Thomas Roberts questioned former DNC chair Howard Dean about allegations of a "quid pro quo" contained in documents released by the FBI on Monday. Notes from an interview with a now-retired FBI agent suggest that the State Department tried to get the FBI to declassify a Benghazi-related email found on Hillary Clinton’s private email server, in exchange for the State Department allowing the FBI to place more undercover agents in certain countries. The conversation allegedly took place while the State Department was engaged in a review to prepare emails from Hillary Clinton's private server for public release.



Dean mistakenly states that the documents released by the FBI today were from WikiLeaks, and therefore "nothing," seemingly without knowing what the allegations were.



Related Video: Trump: FBI, DOJ, And State Department "Colluded To Make Hillary Clinton Look Less Guilty"



The Trump campaign has already seized on the use of the words "quid pro quo" as evidence of illegal activity, and posted a Politico article about the matter on Twitter:



"State Department official accused of offering 'quid pro quo' in Clinton email scandal" https://t.co/XkmcKeyRPJ — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 17, 2016

THOMAS ROBERTS, MSNBC: Both the State Department and the FBI deny any 'quid pro quo' between Hillary Clinton's State Department and the FBI...



We've got this going on, we've got the latest dump by WikiLeaks talking about what this really means in terms of Donald Trump's narrative of pay-for-play, so we've got the State Dept. and the FBI on defense saying this is not really an illumination of anything, how can Hillary Clinton and her team get in front of this?



GOV. HOWARD DEAN: This sounds like nothing. Who is saying this? This is nothing. The last couple of batches of emails have revealed exactly nothing. Now, who is pushing this notion that there was a quid pro quo in the State Department?



ROBERTS: We've got the Wikileaks stuff going on, but this new information is because of the notes that were taken during interviews, the release of information, certain redacted portions of conversations between FBI and State and what it meant with that statement for "quid pro quo," the assertion coming from FBI to State.



DEAN: So why would anyone think the FBI had done something crooked or criminal?



ROBERTS: Why would that phrase be used to talk with someone in Hillary Clinton's State Department from the FBI? That's the bigger question.



DEAN: They're all big questions. This is nothing. Somebody made this up. This is innuendo leaked by the Russians for their own political gain.



ROBERTS: No, sir, this is not WikiLeaks, this is not WikiLeaks. These are documents that have been--



DEAN: Is this Jason Chaffetz's stuff?



ROBERTS: This is an unnamed FBI official who has made these documents alleging Patrick Kennedy of wrongdoing that he was trying to help influence what was taking place between the investigation of Hillary Clinton's State Deparment.



DEAN: This makes no sense to me at all. This sounds like late in the campaign tricks that are meaningless. There is no there there. I don't understand- Tell me what the there is. It is not plausible for Patrick Kennedy to do something to get the FBI to change the State Department investigation, this is crazy.



ROBERTS: So with the debate coming up on Wednesday, and Donald Trump saying the election is rigged, we have the State Department on defense saying they are insulted over these allegations. While people continue to vet what it actually means... Donald Trump will probably run with this ball. What is the play of Hillary Clinton on Wednesday's debate stage in Vegas?



DEAN: The play of Hillary Clinton is to do exactly what she did with Whitewater, with the conspiracy theories about Vince Foster's suicide, with the conspiracy theory that Clinton Foundation donations somehow went to the Russians to open a Nickel mine in Canada, this is all nonsense. This stuff has been going on for 30 years. Not one single scandal that Hillary Clinton has been accused of has ever, ever been proved. And this one won't be either, because there is nothing there.

Dean blames WikiLeaks for releasing the FBI documents (they didn't), and brings up Whitewater and the death of Clinton aide Vince Foster, saying the allegations are "conspiracy theories" and "late-in-the-campaign tricks that are meaningless."The FBI and State Department have both denied allegations that there was any wrongdoing, but House Speaker Paul Ryan said, "a senior State Department official’s attempt to pressure the FBI to hide the extent of this mishandling bears all the signs of a coverup. This is why our aggressive oversight work in the House is so important, and it will continue."Trump campaign surrogate Gen. Michael Flynn said in an emailed statement that this was "undeniable proof that Hillary Clinton colluded with the FBI, DOJ and State Department to cover up criminal activity at the highest levels.": The Trump campaign is, indeed, running with the story, releasing this video message Monday afternoon