Another exchange raised questions about Clinton’s desire to use unsecured email when a secure fax wasn’t possible.
On June 17, 2011, Clinton repeatedly sought “talking points” for a phone conversation she had scheduled later in the day with Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland. The subject was the late Russian accountant Sergei Magnitsky, who exposed massive corruption before dying in his prison cell after alleged mistreatment.
Sullivan reported “issues sending secure fax,” prompting Clinton to reply that that if they couldn’t send it by fax, they should “turn it into nonpaper w/no identifying heading and send nonsecure.”
Nonpaper is a term that refers to an informal document without official markings like letterhead or logos and that is not saved for records.
A legislative aide familiar with the Clinton-Cardin call recalled no classified elements to the conversation.
The aide said the discussion mainly focused on the form of a new “Magnitsky law” being worked on in Congress that would target Russian human rights abusers, and concerns among some Obama administration officials about how sanctions would be applied.
The aide wasn’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter and demanded anonymity.
By later that afternoon, the secure fax apparently worked, according to the messages.
Republicans jumped on the exchange, suggesting that she flouted security rules and encouraged staff to ignore guidance on handling sensitive material. But secure fax doesn’t necessarily imply the information would have been classified. A State Department official said many documents created or stored on secure systems aren’t classified.
Late Thursday, Rep. Mike Pompeo of Kansas said there is increasing evidence that “an enormous amount of information” on Clinton’s private server is classified.
“It was classified when it was on her server and it was classified when it was sent,” Pompeo told conservative radio host Lars Larson.
Pompeo said he is “anxious” for the Justice Department and FBI to determine whether they will bring charges against Clinton as quickly as possible.
In her emails, Clinton herself raised concerns about the spillage of closely held information in another message to her chief of staff, Cheryl Mills.
Commenting in a June 2012 email on two news stories that contained inside information about the Obama administration’s drone strikes and cyber-war policies, Clinton asked Mills whether she should send out a cable warning State Department officials against disseminating classified information.
“I think it is both dishonorable and dangerous and want to find a way to say it,” Clinton said.
Other emails illustrate the complicated relationship between Clinton and President Barack Obama, the man she now hopes to replace.
In September 2010, Clinton’s aide Philippe Reines discusses the furor over a proposed mosque near the site of the destroyed World Trade Center in New York, calling the issue a “real problem” for the White House and advising Clinton to stay clear of the topic.
“You’ll be kicking the president when he’s down. Waay down,” Reines writes. “There will be a day you need to publicly disagree with him, but that day is not Wed, Sep 8, 2010 and that issue is not the mosque.”
