October 06, 2016, 07:21 pm
Two boxes of Clinton emails unaccounted for: report
By Mark Hensch
The FBI's notes on its investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server raise questions about two "bankers boxes" of printed emails that went missing in the course of the probe, Fox News reported.
Among the FBI's lengthy report are its notes from a 2015 interview with an unnamed Office of Information Programs and Services (IPS) employee, which were heavily redacted.
The notes say that IPS officials were told that there were 14 bankers boxes of emails at Clinton's home, but when they were picked up from her lawyer's office, there were only 12.
The report also points out that emails dated from early 2009, at the start of her term, were missing. The FBI said it's not clear if she was using another email address at that time.
“Initially, IPS officials were told there were 14 bankers boxes of former secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s emails at Clinton’s Friendship Heights office,” the employee told the FBI.
“On or about December 5, 2014, IPS personnel picked up only 12 bankers boxes of Clinton’s emails from Williams & Connolly,” they added, referring to a law firm associated with the Clintons.
The witness also accused senior State Department official Patrick Kennedy of pressuring subordinates to change classified email codes in the interview transcripts.
The source “believed there was interference with the formal FOIA review process,” the report reads.
The Office of Legal Counsel allegedly told the State Department’s Near East Affairs Bureau that they could classify emails at the B(5) level, a stricter classification than the B(1) for extra protection from public release.
“The use of the B(5) exemption, which is usually used for executive privilege-related information, was incorrect as the information actually was classified and related to national security, which would be a B(1) exemption,” the report says.
The witness additionally said in May 2015 that Kennedy, Clinton’s undersecretary for management at State, directly requested the classification changes in a closed-door meeting.
“Kennedy pointedly asked [redacted] to change the FBI’s classification determination regarding one of Clinton’s emails, which the FBI considered classified,” the FBI files said. "The email was related to FBI counter-terrorism operations.”
Fox News added the email appears to be one of two inspiring the FBI’s investigation into Clinton’s email server in summer 2015.
Critics say Clinton’s use of the device may have prevented accountability of her tenure at State and jeopardized sensitive national intelligence.
FBI Director James Comey in July concluded his agency would not reccomend charges against Clinton, who is now the Democratic presidential nominee.
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/299749-clinton-email-boxes-missing-evidence-of-tampering-report
