Story highlights Former Secretary of State Colin Powell disputed his role in the Clinton email controversy

Reports say Clinton told the FBI Powell gave her the idea to use private email

(CNN) Colin Powell is pushing back on reports suggesting that he might have given Hillary Clinton the idea to use a private email account as Secretary of State, telling media outlets that "her people are trying to pin it on me."

The former Secretary of State under President George W. Bush suggested that Clinton was using private email long before he communicated with her about the subject.

"The truth is, she was using (the private email server) for a year before I sent her a memo telling her what I did," Powell said.

CNN has reached out to the Clinton campaign, as well as representatives for Powell, and has not yet received a response.

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