Then-US secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton and her team ignored clear guidance from the US Department of State that her e-mail setup broke federal standards and could leave sensitive material vulnerable to hackers, a department audit has found.
Her aides twice brushed aside concerns, in one case telling technical staff “the matter was not to be discussed further.”
The department inspector general’s review on Wednesday also revealed that hacking attempts forced Clinton off e-mail at one point in 2011, though she insists the personal server she used was never breached. Clinton and several of her senior staff declined to be interviewed for the investigation.
Photo: AFP
Earlier this month, Clinton declared that she was happy to “talk to anybody, anytime” about the matter and would encourage her staff to do the same.
Opponents of her Democratic presidential campaign pointed to the audit as proof that Clinton has not been truthful about her private e-mail use, citing it as fresh evidence she is not trustworthy or qualified to be commander in chief.
Campaigning in California, Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump said that Clinton had received “a little bad news” and then railed against her “horribly bad judgement.”
Clinton, also in California, did not mention the controversy and ignored reporters’ shouted questions.
Clinton campaign spokesman Brian Fallon said the audit showed her e-mail use was consistent with what others at the department have done.
The 78-page analysis says Clinton ignored clear directives. She never sought approval to conduct government business over private e-mail, and never demonstrated the server or the Blackberry she used while in office “met minimum information security requirements.”
Twice in 2010, information management staff at the State Department raised concerns that Clinton’s e-mail practices failed to meet federal records-keeping requirements.
The staff’s director responded that Clinton’s personal e-mail system had been reviewed and approved by legal staff, “and that the matter was not to be discussed any further.”
The audit found no evidence of a legal staff review or approval. It said any such request would have been denied by senior information officers because of security risks.
The review encompassed the e-mail and information practices of the past five secretaries of state, finding them “slow to recognize and to manage effectively the legal requirements and cybersecurity risks associated with electronic data communications, particularly as those risks pertain to its most senior leadership.”
“The inspector general documents just how consistent her e-mail practices were with those of other secretaries and senior officials at the State Department who also used personal e-mail,” Fallon said.
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