Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager told reporters Monday that there is nothing to see in recent reports showing a senior State Department official offered the FBI a “quid pro quo” in exchange for the reclassification of emails during the bureau’s year-long investigation of the former secretary of state’s private server.
“It’s not uncommon for officials within a department to cite overclassification. This is something that took place entirely within the government and with the State Department,” Robby Mook told reporters.
“It’s very well known that there were disputes within the State Department and between, or rather between agents, between the State Department and other agencies about classification,” Mook said.
The State Department’s undersecretary for management, Patrick Kennedy, “pressured” FBI investigators to reclassify emails that had been marked “secret,” according to notes released Monday by the federal bureau.
Kennedy allegedly tried “to influence the FBI to change its markings” and asked federal investigators to “see their way to marking the email unclassified,” according to an anonymous source.
Kennedy also tried in June to convince agents to release a statement on Clinton’s private emails. FBI investigators declined.
“State has an agenda which involves minimizing the classified nature of the Clinton emails” in an effort to “protect” the Democratic nominee, a witness told the FBI.
The FBI released a report in September suggesting Kennedy took on a lead role in trying to dismiss and downplay Clinton’s private email scandals, including efforts to have confidential emails reclassified.
