Hillary under FBI eye for alleged 'gross negligence'

Hillary Clinton

An intelligence official familiar with the ongoing investigation into Hillary Clinton's extra-governmental email server said the former secretary of state may have violated sections of the Espionage Act that dictate how federal authorities must handle and safe-keep national defense information.

Specifically, the FBI is looking at possible charges of "gross negligence" against Clinton, a source told Fox News.

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The pertinent code subsection stipulates the information doesn't have to be labeled classified in order to count as a violation.

Rather, the law only says that for those in "lawful possession" of national defense information, it is "gross negligence" for the holder of a security clearance to let data to be removed from its secure spot, Fox News said.

The code text also says the holder of the security clearance must "make prompt report of such loss, theft, abstaction or destruction to his superior officer," and failure to do so "shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years or both."

It's not yet clear if Clinton violated the act.

But the unnamed source told Fox News: Investigators are looking.

And they are looking at more.

"If someone knows there is an ongoing investigation and takes action to impede an investigation, for example destruction of documents or threatening of witnesses, that could be a separate charge but still remain under a single case," the source said.

The new twist in the Clinton email investigation comes as one of her key aides, Huma Abedin, is due to take the congressional hotseat on Capitol Hill to face questioning related to Benghazi.

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As National Review reported: "A previously unknown email address used by Huma Abedin was discovered on Thursday, just hours before the top Hillary Clinton aide prepares to testify in front of the House Select Committee on Benghazi. ... A spokesman for the Benghazi Committee did not immediately respond when asked if the committee was aware of the email account, and if it is under investigation for possibly containing official or classified government information on the September 11, 2012, attack on U.S. compounds in Benghazi, Libya. In August, the State Department admitted to a federal judge that Abedin and others close to Clinton used private accounts to conduct government business, and that they were unable to search those accounts for official records."