http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/267722-state-dept-tried-to-make-standalone-network-for-clinton By Julian Hattem - 02/01/16 11:35 AM EST
The State Department proposed creating a “stand-alone” computer operating on a separate network for Hillary Clinton shortly after she took the helm as the nation’s top diplomat in 2009, according to newly released emails.
Clinton’s personal computer would be “connected to the internet (but not through our system) to enable her to check emails from her desk,” State Department official Lewis Lukens wrote on Jan. 24, 2009, days after Clinton was sworn in as secretary of State.
“The stand-alone seperate [sic] network PC is on on [sic] great idea,” Under Secretary for Management Patrick Kennedy responded.
“Yes we were hoping for that if possible so she can check her email in her office,” agreed Huma Abedin, a longtime Clinton aide and her deputy chief of staff at the time.
The State Department never set up a computer for Clinton, spokesman John Kirby said after the emails were released.
Still, the comments appear to indicate that State Department officials went out of their way to accommodate Clinton’s unusual bespoke email setup, which involved the exclusive use of a private email account housed on a personal server. Critics of Clinton’s arrangement have tried to force the State Department to clarify whether her private email account and server were expressly permitted by department officials.
On Friday, the State Department said that 22 emails on Clinton’s server have been classified as top secret, an acknowledgement that turned up the political heat for the Democratic presidential front-runner.
Monday’s emails were revealed by the conservative legal group Judicial Watch, which has filed multiple lawsuits to bring State Department emails to light.
Kirby declined to comment on the emails, but said in a statement that “a computer was not set up for Secretary Clinton."
Clinton has previously insisted that she did not have a computer in her office in an attempt to dismiss concerns about her email arrangement.
“If you were to be in my office in the State Department, I did not have a computer,” Clinton told the House Select Committee on Benghazi last year. “I did not conduct most of the business that I did on behalf of our country on email.”
While pointing to the measures taken to accommodate Clinton, the email chain released on Monday could back up Clinton’s claim.
Clinton’s chief of staff, Cheryl Mills, told Lukens that there could be a “problem” with the arrangement, because Clinton “does not know how to use a computer to do email — only [BlackBerry].”
“But I said would not take much training to get her up to speed,” Lukens wrote in the email.
Updated at 1:03 p.m.
