FBI Documents Show State Official Sought Classification Change In Clinton Email
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WASHINGTON (CBSMiami/AP) — FBI documents show a senior State Department staffer sought to change the classification level of an email from Hillary Clinton's private server.
The FBI on Monday released 100 more pages from its now-closed investigation into whether the Democratic presidential nominee mishandled sensitive government information.
According to the notes, in 2015, State Department Under Secretary for Management Patrick F. Kennedy contacted an FBI official whose name was redacted.
Kennedy asked that the FBI's classification level on an email related to the 2012 attacks on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, be changed. Kennedy said that would ensure the document would be archived, "never to be seen again."
The FBI did not change the classification level. The Associated Press reported about the secret Benghazi-related email in May 2015.
Trump's campaign seized on the newly released FBI records as evidence of collusion within the Obama administration to protect Clinton.
Trump adviser retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn said in a statement that the documents "provide undeniable proof" that Clinton colluded with the FBI, Justice Department and State Department "to cover up criminal activity at the highest levels."
He said Clinton "has recklessly put our national security at extreme risk."
Meanwhile, Clinton's camp is facing yet another embarrassing trove of hacked emails released by WikiLeaks, including some believed to be from her campaign chairman John Podesta discussing how her failure to express remorse for her private email server would hurt her.
A CBS News Battleground Tracker poll shows that 55 percent of voters polled think Clinton has different motives in private than in public and only 33 percent believe she tells the truth.
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