A pair of classified emails on Hillary Clinton’s private server that should have been marked “top secret” originated in the Central Intelligence Agency, raising questions as to why they had been stripped of their classification markings by the time they reached the secretary of state.
The emails included a discussion of U.S. drone policy, according to a report by the Associated Press.
Officials from the CIA, who reviewed the emails for sensitive material along with representatives from other intelligence agencies, recommended the emails be upgraded to top secret.
One of the emails involved a discussion about a news article that laid out drone policy in Pakistan. A Clinton aide responded to the story with classified details and alluded to top secret information.
Although the intelligence community inspector general revealed the existence of the top secret emails earlier this week, officials were aware that Clinton’s server contained classified materials as far back as May of last year, according to a report by McClatchy.
Clinton’s attorney, David Kendall, was permitted to retain a thumb drive that held all of the emails Clinton deemed work-related until the Justice Department this week, despite the fact that the drive was known to contain classified material for more than a year.
In fact, rather than confiscate the emails, the State Department delivered a safe to Kendall’s office in order to protect the thumb drive.
Clinton’s campaign has struggled to ward off criticism of the FBI inquiry from both Democrats and Republicans.
Jennifer Palmieri, a Clinton spokesman, repeated Clinton’s insistence that she did not mishandle anything “marked classified at the time” it was sent or received in an email to supporters Wednesday.
