The Federal Bureau of Investigation has allegedly harvested personal and work-related emails from Hillary Clinton’s personal server even though the former secretary of state has said that the former were deleted.
Bloomberg reported that an individual close to the FBI investigation into the security of Clinton’s personal server said that agents are in the process of recovering the messages, separating the personal emails from the work-related ones, and delivering the work messages to the individuals spearheading the probe.
The report indicates that the FBI has succeeded in recovery the emails even though Clinton attorney David Kendall previously claimed that the former secretary of state’s server had been wiped clean.
When Clinton first publicly addressed her use of a private email while at the State Department in March, she revealed that she had deleted nearly half of her emails--more than 30,000 of them--after deeming them of personal nature. She then delivered the rest of the work-related messages to the State Department.
After the inspector general of the intelligence community determined that multiple emails held on Clinton’s system contain classified information, the FBI launched an investigation into how and why secret information had found its way into Clinton’s personal emails. Clinton has repeatedly insisted she never sent nor received information marked classified on her personal email.
According to the source close to the probe, the investigation will likely take several months. Amid scrutiny, the Democratic presidential candidate has endured significant drops in her favorable and honesty ratings, and her support among Democratic voters has also waned.
National polling out this week indicates that Vice President Joe Biden, who has yet to formally enter the 2016 race for president, is within 8 percentage points of Clinton among Democrats and Democratic-leaners.
In response to revelations regarding the FBI investigation’s progress, Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill alleged that the campaign has been cooperating with the probe.
"We’ve cooperated to date and will continue to do so, including answering any questions about this that anyone including the public may have," Merrill said in a statement.
In addition to the FBI, multiple congressional committees are also probing matters related to Clinton’s email system.