The State Department has acknowledged in court filings it has nearly 18,000 emails tied to a key Hillary Clinton aide that it previously said did not exist, while the Obama administration also revealed in court that more classified information may have passed through the former secretary of state’s personal email account.

The now-recovered emails were found in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the news website Gawker, which sought Philippe Reines’ emails with journalists. The suit was inspired by a profane exchange Reines had with late Buzzfeed reporter Michael Hastings in 2012.

Two years ago, Gawker reports, the department said “no records responsive to your request were located.” That was updated in a Thursday court filing, with Justice Department lawyers reporting on behalf of the State Department the recovery of “5.5 gigabytes of data containing 81,159 emails of varying length” sent or received by Reines, of which about 17,855 likely were dealings with journalists.



It’s unclear what accounts for the delayed discovery, or whether the emails will provide newsworthy information about Clinton herself. A State Department spokesman told Gawker it would not be commenting on ongoing litigation. Reines’ emails will be released beginning Sept. 30.

News outlets also reported a potentially more concerning development for Clinton on Monday: That the total number of emails being reviewed for possibly containing classified information amounts to more than 300, a number that may grow much larger.

Clinton’s use of a private email server while America’s top diplomat has become a significant political controversy. A federal judge in May ordered the incremental release of her government work emails following a FOIA lawsuit by Vice News reporter Jason Leopold.



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