A federal prosecutor may face legal consequences for mishandling sensitive information by forwarding it to a private email address, the Justice Department’s inspector general found.
The assistant U.S. attorney, who was not identified, transmitted “sensitive but unclassified” data to a personal account, according to the watchdog’s investigation.
The inspector general handed its findings to the agency office responsible for handling employee misconduct, citing other violations of regulations. The federal prosecutor allegedly misused government equipment and exploited his or her position by writing a letter of recommendation for a family member.
As Hillary Clinton faces increasing scrutiny for her own handling of classified information, the inspector general’s findings raise new questions about the consequences of using a private email account to transmit sensitive data.
A number of emails included in the batch Clinton submitted to the State Department were marked “sensitive but unclassified,” as were the ones forwarded by the federal prosecutor under investigation by the Justice Department watchdog.
But hundreds of her emails have already been or are expected to be marked classified, potentially upping the stakes for the former secretary of state and present Democratic presidential contender.
Clinton has maintained that she never sent or received any material that was marked classified at the time.
Her use of a private email server to shield her government communications has become a major obstacle to her campaign, prompting a gradual decline in the polls and a shift in public perception of her character.
Most voters described Clinton as “dishonest” or “untrustworthy” in a recent poll.
Although the Justice Department has confirmed an FBI probe into her private email network, Clinton’s camp has maintained the investigation is merely a security inquiry and has denied reports that the probe is criminal in nature.
