Last Friday’s document release by the FBI revealed a stark contradiction between then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s signed Classified Information Nondisclosure Agreement and her July statements to FBI agents, as THE WEEKLY STANDARD reported. Clinton told the FBI that she could not recall “any briefing or training by State related to the retention of federal records or handling of classified information”, while the non-disclosure form stated that “I hereby acknowledge that I have received a security indoctrination concerning the nature and protection of classified information.”
So while Clinton says she recalls no such briefing or training, a State Department publication from 2010, the Diplomatic Security 2009 Year in Review, explicitly states that Secretary Clinton indeed received the training in “the proper handling of sensitive and classified information”. The relevant section from the publication is shown here:
Up until now, the State Department has avoided directly answering the question of whether or not Clinton was personally trained in the handling of classified material.
But when asked Wednesday about the accuracy of the statement in the year-in-review publication, State Department spokesperson John Kirby told TWS, “I believe a more accurate characterization would be that the 302 [FBI interview document] says Secretary Clinton could not recall receiving training on handling classified material. The Secretary and senior staff in the office of the Secretary receive in person orientation on handling classified information and then work daily with qualified professional staff.”
Kirby’s assertion that Clinton not only received an “in person orientation” but worked “daily with qualified professional staff” undercuts Clinton’s contention that classified marking are “too arcane for most people”, a statement she made in an unaired remarks from an interview with ABC News, as reported by the Daily Caller. The “qualified professional staff” with whom Clinton worked should have been able to help her comply with yet another requirement from her non-disclosure agreement: “I understand that if I am uncertain about the classification status of information, I am required to confirm from an authorized official that the information is unclassified before I may disclose it…I further understand that I am obligated to comply with laws and regulations that prohibit the unauthorized disclosure of classified information.”
Secretary Clinton also told the FBI that she assumed the “(C)” in certain emails were markings used to alphabetize paragraphs. But if Clinton had any question about classification markings, the State Department’s Foreign Affairs Manual contains a concise explanation of the five symbols used:
As noted previously by TWS, the non-disclosure form Clinton signed on January 22, 2009 also notes that classified information is not always so marked but is still regulated by the agreement. In spite of this, a statement on Clinton’s campaign website excuses Clinton’s email practices, saying, “No information in Clinton’s emails was marked classified at the time she sent or received them.”
A composite of the FBI documents and the signed non-disclosure agreement is reproduced below:
