FBI vs. Clinton: Seven points of contention
July 5 (Reuters) - FBI Director James Comey undercut some of the main arguments Hillary Clinton has made in defense of her use of an unauthorized private email system while she was U.S. secretary of state.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation began investigating Clinton's email system after government watchdogs found that some of her messages contained classified government secrets last year.
Comey is recommending that Clinton not face criminal charges. But in an unusual step, he used a news conference to give a public rebuttal on Tuesday of the defenses offered by Clinton over the last year. Here are seven times that Comey contradicts Clinton:
Reactions to Comey's statement:
ON RETURNING WORK EMAILS
Clinton said:
Clinton said in March 2015 that she returned "anything that could be possibly viewed as work related." She later swore under oath that she returned all her work emails to the State Department in 2014, some 30,000 in all.
Comey said:
The FBI recovered "several thousand" work emails that were not returned to the State Department. Comey has "reasonable confidence" that there was no deliberate effort to withhold these messages.
ON CLASSIFIED INFORMATION
Clinton said:
Clinton has repeatedly said she did not send or receive any classified information through her private email system, and that emails being released to the public that were now marked classified were being retroactively "upgraded."
Comey said:
The FBI found 110 emails in 52 email chains that contained information that was classified at the time the messages were sent. Eight of those chains contained Top Secret information, the highest level of government classification; another 36 chains contained Secret information, and eight contained confidential information.
ON CLASSIFICATION MARKINGS
Clinton said:
Clinton has repeatedly said she did not send or receive any emails that were "marked" classified.
Comey said:
A "very small number" of emails were marked as containing classified information. "But even if information is not marked 'classified' in an email, participants who know or should know that the subject matter is classified are still obligated to protect it," Comey said.
ON SECURITY
Clinton said:
The "security and integrity" of the email system were taken seriously, and "robust protections" were put in place, according to her staff in March 2015.
Comey said:
The system was "not even supported by full-time security staff, like those found at departments and agencies of the U.S. government, or even with a commercial service like Gmail."
ON HACKING
Clinton said:
Clinton said there is no evidence there was ever a breach of her email system.
Comey said:
It would be unlikely to find "direct evidence" of Clinton's email system being hacked, but the FBI believes "it is possible that hostile actors gained access." "Hostile actors" also gained access to some people Clinton corresponded with on her email system.
ON APPROACH TO GOVERNMENT SECRETS
Clinton said:
"I'm certainly well aware of the classification requirements," Clinton said in March 2015.
Comey said:
Clinton and her colleagues were "extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information."
ON CONSEQUENCES
Clinton said:
Clinton has maintained that her email system was allowed and that she did nothing wrong. She has also said it was a "mistake" and apologized for it.
Comey said:
There is no evidence that Clinton and her colleagues intended to break the law, but people who engage in similar activity are "often subject to security or administrative sanctions."
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