WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. State Department has found an email chain that Hillary Clinton did not turn over after saying she had provided all work-related emails during her time as secretary of state, the Associated Press reported, citing unidentified officials.
The correspondence, with former General David Petraeus, started before she entered office and continued during her first days as the top U.S. diplomat in 2009, the AP reported.
The emails dealt with personnel issues and were not classified, it said. Petraeus was head of U.S. Central Command at the time.
Clinton’s use of private email for her work as secretary came to light in March and drew criticism from political opponents who accused the Democratic presidential front-runner of sidestepping transparency and record-keeping laws.
The controversy has cut into Clinton’s lead in the race for the Democratic nomination for the November 2016 election.
Last December, she provided what she said were copies of all the work emails she had in her possession, nearly two years after she stepped down as secretary of state.
She handed over about 30,000 emails she sent and received, although her staff have since acknowledged that some work emails are missing. She did not hand over another 30,000 emails from the period that she deemed personal and said she chose "not to keep."
(Reporting by Washington Newsroom; Editing by Sandra Maler and Lisa Lambert)