Republicans Attack Clinton Over ‘Secret’ Email Information

The State Department on Friday refused to release 22 of the former Secretary of State’s emails, deeming they contained “top secret” information.

State Department spokesman John Kirby told The Associated Press that seven email chains containing “top secret” information were being withheld in full at the request of intelligence officials.

“We understand that these emails were likely originated on the State Department’s unclassified system before they were ever shared with Secretary Clinton, and they have remained on the department’s unclassified system for years”, Fallon said. Clinton characterized the email flap as a “dispute about retroactive classification” and reiterated that she never sent or received classified material on her private email account.

“We adamantly oppose the complete blocking of the release of these emails”.

The State Department has been releasing Clinton’s emails monthly since June to comply with a judge’s order that they be made public by the end of January 2016.

Clinton aide Fallon criticized the email review process, saying, “This is overclassification run amok”.

Congressional Republicans have criticized and investigated Clinton for her use of a private email server for her work as a secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.

Clinton, the Democratic frontrunner, revealed last spring that she used a private server and email accounts for official business when she was the country’s top diplomat.

On Friday, as part of its ongoing, court-ordered release of Mrs Clin- ton’s e-mail messages, the State Department said it would hold back 22 documents covering 37 pages.

The State Department has released thousands of these e-mails, however this can be the very first time her messages are tagged classified at any amount. We feel no differently today. Such operations are widely discussed publicly, including by top US officials, and State Department officials debated McCullough’s claim.

“There was never any information sent or received that was marked classified to me”, Clinton said, adding, “I just don’t see it as anything that will in any way cause any voter with an open mind to have any concerns”.

Since the scandal broke last March, Clinton has maintained that nothing she sent contained classified material.

And the issue continues as the FBI investigates the matter and presidential candidates, now including Democrat Bernie Sanders, use it to try to discredit Clinton. That action could include counseling or issuing warnings or security violations if it determines that the information was mishandled in violation of classification regulations.

“It says classified information is marked or unmarked classified and that all of your training to treat all of that sensitively and should know the difference”, said Stephanopoulos, describing the document.

Clinton revised her defense of the classified information on several occasions, as federal agencies release more damaging information about her home-brew email system.

He trails Clinton by rough 5 points in Iowa but leads her by roughly 15 points in New Hampshire, which votes February 9, according to the RealClearPolitics poll averaging.