State Department probes Clinton handling of government emails, could pull her security clearance
By Malia Zimmerman
Published June 20, 2017
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017...clearance.html
The State Department has opened a formal inquiry into whether
former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her aides mishandled classified information while she was the nation's top diplomat, Fox News has learned.
Despite being under investigation, Clinton and her staffers still have security clearances to access sensitive government information.
The department's investigation aims to determine whether Clinton and her closest aides violated government protocols by using her private server to receive, hold and transmit classified and top-secret government documents. The department declined to say when its inquiry began, but it follows the conclusion of the FBI's probe into the matter, which did not result in any actions being taken against Clinton or any of her aides.
Depending on the outcome of the current State Department inquiry, Clinton and her aides could have their access to sensitive government documents terminated.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, confirmed to Fox News
the department's formal inquiry.
Meanwhile, Grassley's committee launched
its own inquiry into Clinton's handling of emails, an
inquiry that began in
March. Grassley cited among his concerns the July 5 statement of former FBI Director James Comey that the agency found Clinton and her staff members were
"extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information." Grassley also contended there is
"evidence of potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information..."
During the FBI's investigation of Clinton's use of top-secret and classified information on her private server, Comey said there were
seven email chains on Clinton's computer that were
classified at the "Top Secret/Special Access Program level." Another
2,000 emails on her private server were found to have
contained information deemed classified now, though not marked classified when sent. In addition, the server also contained
22 top-secret emails deemed too damaging to national security to be released.
Clinton's spokesperson, Nick Merrill, told Fox News that the investigation into Clinton's mishandling of classified information is done.
"Nothing's been more thoroughly dissected. It's over. Case closed. Literally," said Merrill.
That is
not a universally held view....