Hillary Clinton said Thursday the intelligence community inspector general’s findings that she transmitted information classified higher than “top secret” may have been mischaracterized in the press.
But she declined to join her spokesman, Brian Fallon, in blaming the inspector general for leaking the findings in order to hurt her politically.
“I do believe that these leaks, which are coming out, and being in some way misrepresenting, mischaracterizing what is going on, are troubling, but the basic fact that no material marked as classified was sent or received has not been changed,” Clinton said Thursday during an appearance on CNN’s “Situation Room.”
Asked by host Wolf Blitzer if the intelligence community was “falsifying information,” Clinton responded, “I hope not.”
“I don’t have any information to that effect,” she added.
Fallon had argued Wednesday that Charles McCullough, the intelligence community inspector general, had “put two Republican senators up to sending him a letter so that he would have an excuse to resurface” allegations that Clinton handled information classified as top secret or above on her server.
He later told NBC that “the sending and the leaking of [the IG’s] letter was a reckless and irresponsible act.”
Clinton repeated her argument Thursday that the controversy is nothing more than a disagreement among bureaucrats over what should be considered classified.
“All I can say is this, Wolf, I think it’s a continuation of an interagency dispute that has been going on, and that’s not uncommon in our government when it comes to releasing information, as I requested that mine be released,” she said.
However, Clinton’s emails are being released because Jason Leopold, a reporter for Vice News, sued the State Department over an unanswered Freedom of Information Act and forced the agency in federal court to begin releasing the emails, not because she requested they be published.
The final batch of emails is due to be published Jan. 29.
