House Democrats on Wednesday released email correspondence between Colin Powell and Hillary Clinton after she became secretary of state, in which they discussed the use of personal email and devices.
In the in January 2009 email exchange, Clinton asks the former secretary of state about restrictions in using a Blackberry, and Powell responded with how he used a land line to get around State Department rules.
"I didn't have a Blackberry," Powell said in the email. "What I did was have a personal computer that was hooked up to a private phone line (sounds ancient). So I could communicate with a wide range of friends directly without it going through the State Department servers. I even used it to do business with some foreign leaders and some of the senior folks in the Department on their personal email accounts. I did the same thing on the road in hotels."
The emails were released by Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland, a ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Cummings said he procured the documents through a procedure that allows members of the committee to obtain federal records.
Clinton's use of a private email server has become a major issue in the presidential campaign. The FBI said in July that there is no evidence Clinton committed a crime, and recommended no charges. Clinton has said using a private email server was a mistake.
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Cummings, of the House committee, said the email exchange shows Powell advised Clinton on how to use private email as secretary of state, and proves Clinton wasn't the only person in that position to do so.
Powell has said that his use of a private email account was different than Clinton's use of a private emails server in her home.
Related: Condoleezza Rice Aides, Colin Powell Also Got Classified Info on Personal Email
More recently, Powell told People magazine in August that Clinton's team has been trying to "pin" Clinton's use of a private email server and the controversy on him.
In that interview Powell said Clinton had already been using a private email address for a year before he mentioned it to her.
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