Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA) said, “It’s not an accident to have 300 emails become retroactively…determined to be classified” and “somebody sent out classified information, and did not recognize it as classified” before adding, “Huma…is brilliant. Hillary Clinton is brilliant. So the question is, are people that smart unable to recognize sensitive classified information? I don’t believe so,” while discussing Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s private email on Thursday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Situation Room.”
Issa was asked, “Why do you think a criminal investigation [of Clinton’s use of private email], instead of what the FBI is now doing is necessary?” He answered, “the one thing that we now know is that, as they said, about 300 separate emails, maybe more, contain classified information. And I think it’s important to get above the discussion of classified documents and so on. If you or I go to a briefing, and we receive classified information, and we then produce an email that says things that were in that briefing, that is disclosing classified information. That appears to be what happened. So, without getting into legalese of classified at the time, it looks like her assistant may have produced emails back and forth with her that utilized, classified information. That’s clearly a crime. It not only is a wrongful disclosure, potentially, but it made us very vulnerable by its very nature. Even if it had been done on a government site, it still would have been wrong.”
Issa continued that Clinton, “clearly is using the is is type of terminology very carefully. Again, if Huma [Abedin] had classified information in front of her, and she was typing emails back and forth to Hillary Clinton, and Secretary Clinton was receiving classified information, she’s smart enough to know this was classified information. There is a problem. That is a real question. Did somebody violate the basic keep a secret secret, don’t send it out in an unclassified format? And that appears to be what probably happened. So, is it classified documents being sent out? No. Is it classified information being sent out? It’s not an accident to have 300 emails become retroactively, if you will, determined to be classified. That means somebody sent out classified information, and did not recognize it as classified. Huma, her assistant, her second daughter, if you will, is brilliant. Hillary Clinton is brilliant. So the question is, are people that smart unable to recognize sensitive classified information? I don’t believe so, and I think the FBI needs to look at this, because, in fact, her server may very well have been constantly observed by third parties, because, quite candidly, it’s not a classify network, it didn’t enjoy the robust protection that one would expect to have.”
Issa concluded that while there is a dispute between different government over what should have been classified at the time, “During my chairmanship, it was amazing how the state department classified the most mundane information, even when publicly available. In this case, it appears as though State would like to say these things weren’t particularly classified. Well, the CIA, and the NSA, and other clandestine agencies, appear to be appalled that very sensitive information was sent out on her non-government server in an unclassified format.”
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