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Classified Clinton Email Chain Discussed Afghan Nationals’ CIA Connections

Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton / AP
February 17, 2016

A classified email chain discovered on Hillary Clinton’s private email server reportedly talked about an Afghan national’s connections to the CIA and also referenced a news article about the individual being paid by the government agency.

Fox News, citing a government official, reported:

The discussion of a foreign national working with the U.S. government raises security implications--an executive order signed by President Obama said unauthorized disclosures are "presumed to cause damage to the national security." The U.S. government official said the Clinton email exchange, which referred to a New York Times report, was among 29 classified emails recently provided to congressional committees with specific clearances to review them. In that batch were 22 "top secret" exchanges deemed too damaging to national security to release.

The emails discussing the Afghan national were sent to the accounts of former secretary of State Clinton and Richard Holbrook, then the special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Other individuals may have also been on the thread of messages.

Clinton’s email use has been subject to controversy since it was first reported nearly a year ago that she used private email while at the State Department. Critics have argued that Clinton risked national security by using a personal, unsecured email server to conduct sensitive government business. Her email use is currently the subject of an FBI investigation.

The Obama administration confirmed last month, just before the Iowa caucuses, that 22 Clinton emails contain information classified as "top secret." The State Department, which has periodically been releasing Clinton’s communications to the public, was forced to withhold the messages from release. The agency is looking into whether the emails were classified at the time they originated on Clinton’s server.

Clinton’s presidential campaign has argued that the messages were over-classified. Clinton has said repeatedly that she did not sent or receive information marked classified on her personal email.

Voters have grown wary of Clinton’s honesty as revelations about her email use have unfolded. More than a third of likely Democratic primary voters nationwide do not rate Clinton as trustworthy, according to a Quinnipiac University poll out Wednesday. Clinton has also lost ground to her challenger for the nomination, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), over several months.

Published under: Hillary Clinton