Documents released by the FBI contain an accusation that Pat Kennedy, under secretary of state for management, tried in late June or early July of last year to get the FBI to change a classified email to unclassified, in exchange for State Department “allowing the FBI to place more Agents in countries where they are presently forbidden.” | Getty State Dept. official accused of offering 'quid pro quo' in Clinton email scandal An unnamed FBI official alleges Patrick Kennedy asked agency to downgrade classified email in exchange for FBI agents in more countries.

A top State Department official allegedly “pressured” the FBI to downgrade the classification of one of Hillary Clinton’s emails as part of a “quid pro quo,” according to documents released by the bureau on Monday.

The accusation of such an arrangement came from an interview the FBI conducted with an official in its records management division. Notes from the interview were released as part of the FBI’s public posting of documents related to its now-closed investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server.


In the interview, the unnamed official says that Patrick Kennedy, undersecretary of state for management, tried in late June or early July of last year to get the FBI to change a classified email to unclassified, in exchange for the State Department allowing the FBI to place agents in more countries.

The conversation allegedly occurred as the FBI and State were engaging in an interagency review of Clinton’s emails as they were being prepared for public release. Ultimately, FBI Director James Comey said just over 100 emails retrieved from Clinton’s server were deemed classified after the fact, although the Democratic nominee contends she never knowingly sent or received classified emails.

In an exchange that included redacted names, the interview notes state that “[REDACTED] received a call from [REDACTED] of the International Operations Division (IOD) of the FBI, who ‘pressured’ him to change the classified email to unclassified. [REDACTED] indicated he had been contacted by PATRICK KENNEDY, Undersecretary of State, who had asked his assistance in altering the email’s classification in exchange for a ‘quid pro quo.’”

The notes go on to say, “[REDACTED] advised that, in exchange for marking the email unclassified, STATE would reciprocate by allowing the FBI to place more Agents in countries where they are presently forbidden.”

An unnamed official alleges that Kennedy followed up this request by asking during a private meeting whether the FBI could “see their way to marking the email unclassified?”

“According to [REDACTED], KENNEDY spent the next 15 minutes debating the classification of the email and attempting to influence the FBI to change its markings.”

An unnamed official accuses Kennedy of keeping up the pressure by going to Michael Steinbach, the assistant director of the FBI’s counterterrorism division, but that Steinbach refused to change the classified messages to unclassified.

State Department deputy spokesperson Mark Toner on Monday strongly denied that such a quid pro occurred. “This allegation is inaccurate and does not align with the facts. To be clear: the State Department did upgrade the document at the request of the FBI when we released it back in May 2015,” Toner said in a statement

The issue was a major focus of State's daily briefing for reporters Monday, where Toner stressed that the FBI employee raised the staffing issue with Kennedy.



"He was on the phone with Pat Kennedy and took advantage of that fact to raise the issue of [more] slots in Baghdad," the State spokesman said.

Toner said that he could not account for the FBI official's claim, but seemed to dismiss them.

"I can’t speak to what his or her intentions were saying these kinds of things. Clearly he was expressing a personal opinion about what happened," the State spokesman added. "Any assertion that this was somehow a tit for tat or quid pro quo or exchange in that manner, frankly, is insulting....I can’t speak to what this person’s intent was or whether they misunderstood the atmosphere."



However, Toner did not dispute that State and FBI disagreed about how that particular email should be treated. "Individuals with classification authorities often have or sometimes have different views on how to do that, or whether something should be upgraded" in classification, the spokesman said. "That's called interagency exchange."

The FBI also issued a statement denying that a "quid pro quo" ever occurred, while also saying the FBI official who discussed the matter with the State Department is now retired.

"Prior to the initiation of the FBI’s investigation of former Secretary Clinton’s personal email server, the FBI was asked to review and make classification determinations on FBI emails and information which were being produced by the State Department pursuant to FOIA," the statement said. "The FBI determined that one such email was classified at the Secret level. A senior State Department official requested the FBI re-review that email to determine whether it was in fact classified or whether it might be protected from release under a different FOIA exemption. A now-retired FBI official, who was not part of the subsequent Clinton investigation, told the State Department official that they would look into the matter."

The statement also explains, "Having been previously unsuccessful in attempts to speak with the senior State official, during the same conversation, the FBI official asked the State Department official if they would address a pending, unaddressed FBI request for space for additional FBI employees assigned abroad. Following the call, the FBI official consulted with a senior FBI executive responsible for determining the classification of the material and determined the email was in fact appropriately classified at the Secret level. The FBI official subsequently told the senior State official that the email was appropriately classified at the Secret level and that the FBI would not change the classification of the email. The classification of the email was not changed, and it remains classified today. Although there was never a quid pro quo, these allegations were nonetheless referred to the appropriate officials for review."

Clinton’s campaign manager Robby Mook downplayed the accusation during a press call on Monday morning. "It's very well known that there were disputes between the State Department and other agencies about classification. It's not unusual,” Mook said.

The allegation deepens the scandal around Clinton’s use of a private email server, which has continued to dog her presidential campaign, even in the late stages.

House Speaker Paul Ryan seized on the latest FBI documents, saying, “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.”

House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz and House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes called for the immediate removal of Kennedy, pending an investigation. "We find Under Secretary Kennedy's actions extremely disturbing. Those who receive classified intelligence should not barter in it - that is reckless behavior with our nation's secrets," the wrote in a statement.

Donald Trump was more succinct, simply tweeting, “Unbelievable.”

Trump’s campaign later blasted out a statement from retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who cited the latest trove as “undeniable proof that Hillary Clinton colluded with the FBI, DOJ and State Department to cover up criminal activity at the highest levels.”

The State Department rejected the calls from lawmakers for Kennedy to be removed from his post.

"That’s their prerogative. I can say Pat Kennedy is going to remain at his job and he has the full confidence of the secretary of state," Toner said.

The trove of roughly 100 pages is the fourth such installment of documents released by the agency, following dumps in September and August totaling nearly 250 pages.

In announcing the FBI’s decision in July to not recommend charges against Clinton, Comey described Clinton and her aides as “extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information” but ultimately discerned “that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case.” Comey passionately defended the integrity of the bureau’s investigation during a House Judiciary Committee hearing late last month.

Trump has vowed, if elected, to have his attorney general appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Clinton’s email practices and jail the Democratic nominee. At a rally last week, the real estate mogul called for an investigation into the FBI’s investigation.

In one of the most sweeping allegations in the documents released on Monday, an unnamed official interviewed by the FBI accuses the State Department of being in cahoots with Clinton. “[REDACTED] believes STATE has an agenda which involves minimizing the classified nature of the CLINTON emails in order to protect STATE interests and those of CLINTON,” the FBI notes state.

But the most specific, damaging claims involved Kennedy. An unnamed official with the State Department’s inspector general’s office described Kennedy as “a key figure” in implementing half of the IG and Inspectors General of the Intelligence Community’s joint recommendations for handling Freedom of Information Act requests. Namely, the official told the FBI, Kennedy accepted the recommendation on behalf of State to “act as a final arbiter if there is a question regarding potentially classified materials.”



The official also alleges that Kennedy misled the inspector general, telling the FBI that the State IG left a July 2015 meeting with Kennedy “with the impression that Department of State had an electronic copy of Secretary Clinton’s emails,” according to the FBI’s notes. “Later, STATE IG was told that Department of State did not have an electronic copy.”

An unnamed State official told the FBI that the officials who reviewed 296 of Clinton’s emails weren’t “the same normal review officials that the [Information Programs and Services] uses on a regular basis.” The official said State used a Justice Department official as an FBI reviewer, for example, and that “IPS officials felt intimidated when they used or suggested the use of” of an exemption.

“KENNEDY and [redacted] were named as some of the STATE officials who pressured IPS employees to not label anything as classified,” the official told the bureau..

Kennedy was also involved in the so-called "7th Floor Group" or "The Shadow Government," according to the documents released Monday. Toner sought to downplay the cryptic name of the group though, by saying that given the sheer amount of FOIA requests it made sense for the department to draw on its top people for its response.

"Given the profile of this release of emails, the department took it very seriously and brought together senior state department staffers about how we were going to get through these 55,000 pages of emails and release them publicly," Toner said. "It was a pretty extraordinary effort and as such, and responsibly I would, say that there was a high attention to detail on this."

Toner also disputed that Clinton eschewed diplomatic protocol during her travels as secretary when she rode in her limo with aides instead of local ambassadors.

"There is no official protocol for seating in the secretary's motorcade," Toner said. "It depends on the business at hand."

A former diplomatic security agent, according to the documents, told the FBI that Clinton's actions were an affront to security and respect to US officials.

Brent Griffiths contributed to this report.