House Oversight Committee Democrats on Wednesday released a 2009 email between Colin Powell and Hillary Clinton that shows Clinton sought Powell’s advice on “how to bring along the State Dep[artment]” with her effort to use private email in violation of agency policy.
In the exchange, which took place after Clinton had already set up the “clintonemail.com” domain, Powell described a clash with the State Department over his insistence on using a personal Blackberry, even in secured areas.
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Clinton has pointed to the email as a factor in her decision to use a private email server, characterizing it as advice from a predecessor. But the exchange suggests it was Clinton who sought the counsel of Powell on how to use a personal account.
“I hope to catch up soon w you, but I have one pressing question which only you can answer!” she wrote to Powell on Jan. 23, 2009.
“What were the restrictions on your use of your blackberry? Did you use it in your personal office? I’ve been told that the [diplomatic security] personnel knew you had one and used it but no one fesses up to knowing how you used it!” she wrote.
“President Obama has struck a blow for berry addicts like us,” she concluded. “I just have to figure out how to bring along the State Dept. Any and all advice is welcome.”
Powell answered in detail about his understanding of the rules within the department and how his team, in some instances, avoided them.
“Now, the real issue had to do with PDAs, as we called them a few years ago before BlackBerry became a noun. And the issue was [diplomatic security] would not allow them into the secure spaces, especially up your way,” Powell wrote back. “When I asked why not they gave me all kinds of nonsense about how they gave out signals and could be read by spies, etc. Same reason they tried to keep mobile phones out of the suite.”
Powell told Clinton he had held “numerous meetings” with diplomatic security about using his mobile device in a secure area until his team finally “stopped asking” and did so anyway.
The FBI revealed last week that Clinton used her Blackberry in secure areas despite rules preventing mobile devices from being used in those areas.
Powell also warned Clinton about the political dangers of using a personal email account to mix official and private communications, cautioning that doing so could expose her records to the public.
“[T]here is a real danger. If it is public that you have a BlackBerry and it it government and you are using it, government or not, to do business, it may become an official record and subject to the law,” Powell wrote. “Reading about the President’s BB rules this morning, it sounds like it won’t be as useful as it used to be. Be very careful. I got around it all by not saying much and not using systems that captured the data. ”
Clinton was hammered over her private email use Wednesday evening at an NBC forum on defense issues. She continued to defend her use of a personal server, arguing she did not mishandle sensitive materials because the classified emails that bore portion markings did not also contain headers.
Rep. Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, said Clinton did not follow Powell’s advice on “how to skirt security rules” even though she conducted her communications in much the same way and has repeatedly linked her private email use to his.
“This email exchange shows that Secretary Powell advised Secretary Clinton with a detailed blueprint on how to skirt security rules and bypass requirements to preserve federal records, although Secretary Clinton has made clear that she did not rely on this advice,” Cummings said in a statement.
