White House press secretary Josh Earnest responded Friday afternoon to a question regarding Hillary Clinton signing an NDA form that acknowledged she was responsible as secretary of state for determining classified information she sends or receives, a story the Free Beacon first reported.
There wasn't "anything that undermines her argument," Earnest said, despite reporting to the contrary.
The story was brought up by The Blaze's Fred Lucas.
"Today, there was a report that from a FOIA that showed Hillary Clinton did sign an NDA agreement when she first became secretary of state acknowledging that it was, based on the training she received, determination to know what is and is not classified," Lucas said during the White House press briefing. "Do you think that undermines her assertion that nothing was marked classified?"
Earnest dismissed the question, noting that Clinton has neither sent nor received anything marked classified on her private email server. The term "marked classified" is an important distinction made by the Clinton campaign, State Department, and White House because hundreds of emails with classified information were found on her server but were not marked as such at the time.
The importance of Clinton signing the NDA is that it undermines that very argument. Under the terms of the document, Clinton acknowledged she is responsible for determining what is and is not classified, even if it is not marked as such.
"I understand that it is my responsibility to consult with appropriate management authorities in the Department … in order to ensure that I know whether information or material within my knowledge or control that I have reason to believe might be SCI," the agreement that Clinton signed says.
"I can't speak to any documents that she may have signed," Earnest said. "You can check with the State Department on that. But I don't think there's anything that undermines her argument because the facts that have been learned about this matter actually substantiate the argument she's been making for a number of months now."