A memo Sidney Blumenthal forwarded to his friend Hillary Clinton when she was secretary of state contained information classified as SECRET both when he sent it and currently, the FBI’s Clinton email investigation report says.
It was already known that about two dozen of the hundreds of emails Blumenthal sent Clinton during her tenure contained classified information.
But the FBI’s report, released Friday, reveals for the first time that one of the emails contained information the government considers to have been classified as soon as it hit Clinton’s inbox.
Clinton and the State Department have downplayed the presence of classified information in her emails by pointing out that most of the information has been classified retroactively through a process called “up classification.”
“When information is reviewed for public release, it is common for information previously unclassified to be upgraded to classified if the State Department or another agency believes its public release could cause potential harm to national security, law enforcement or diplomatic relations,” reads an entry on Clinton’s campaign website defending the presence of “up classified” emails in her records.
The FBI’s report states that 24 Blumenthal memos have been identified as containing “information currently classified as CONFIDENTIAL.” But one April 23, 2010 email has been deemed to contain information that is “SECRET both when sent and currently.”
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