Agencies Clashed on Classification of Clinton Email, Inquiry Shows
Documents released in the Hillary Clinton email investigation show intense disagreement in 2015 between the State Department and the FBI over whether some of Clinton’s emails should be considered classified, including a discussion of a possible “quid pro quo” to settle one dispute.
The new batch of documents indicated that in one particular case, a senior State Department official, Patrick F. Kennedy, pressed the FBI to agree that one of Clinton’s emails on the 2012 Benghazi attack would be unclassified — and not classified as the bureau wanted. What remained unclear from the documents was whether it was Kennedy or an FBI official who purportedly offered the “quid pro quo”: marking the email unclassified in exchange for the State Department’s approving the posting of more FBI agents to Iraq.
Donald Trump and other Republicans quickly seized on the new documents as evidence of what Speaker Paul D. Ryan called “a cover-up.”
Agencies Clashed on Classification of Clinton Email, Inquiry Shows FBI Documents Show State Department Fought Classification of Clinton Emails (WSJ) Documents show State Dept. official pressed FBI to change classification of one of Clinton’s emails (Washington Post) Official urged FBI to declassify Clinton email (FT) State Department and FBI deny quid pro quo over Clinton email classification (LA Times)