Hillary's email scandal catches 38 in State Department

Hillary Clinton (Photo: Twitter)

A letter dispatched to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, reveals a federal investigation found 38 current and former State Department officials violated government email regulations by using former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's unsecure, private system.

The Associated Press reported some of the individuals may face disciplinary action for 91 times instances in which classified information ended up in Clinton's personal email system.

An investigation found the system likely was hacked by foreign enemies of the U.S.

Of the 33,000 emails Clinton turned over for review, the State Department found 588 instances in which classified information was transferred.

Washington watchdog Judicial Watch continues to investigate the Clinton email scandal through Freedom of Information Act requests and lawsuits.

The judge in a Judicial Watch case has expressed concern over Clinton's actions, encouraging Judicial Watch to "shake this tree" and see what it can discover.

A court decision on whether Clinton will be required to answer questions under oath is expected soon.

Judicial Watch is probing, among other things, whether Clinton used private email in an effort to evade the Freedom of Information Act; whether the State Department’s attempt to settle a FOIA case in 2014 and 2015 was in bad faith; and whether the State Department has adequately searched for records responsive to the request.

The judge noted, "There is no FOIA exemption for political expedience, nor is there one for bureaucratic incompetence."

Judicial Watch said the State Department knew about her secret system as early as 2010.

AP reported: "For current and former officials, culpability means the violations will be noted in their files and will be considered when they apply for or go to renew security clearances."

The internal State Department investigation was launched several years ago after it found 22 emails from Clinton's private server were "top secret."

"Then-FBI Director James Comey held a news conference that year in which he criticized Clinton as 'extremely careless' in her use of the private email server as secretary of state but said the FBI would not recommend charges," AP reported.

Judicial Watch says it already has learned:

John Hackett, former director of information programs and services (IPS) testified under oath that he had raised concerns that Clinton’s staff may have “culled out 30,000” of the secretary’s “personal” emails without following strict National Archives standards. He also believed there was interference with the formal FOIA review process related to the classification of Clinton’s Benghazi-related emails.
Heather Samuelson, Clinton’s White House liaison at the State Department, and later Clinton’s personal lawyer, admitted under oath that she was granted immunity by the Department of Justice in June 2016.
Justin Cooper, former aide to President Bill Clinton and Clinton Foundation employee who registered the domain name of the unsecure clintonemail.com server that Clinton used while serving as secretary of state, testified he worked with Huma Abedin, Clinton’s deputy chief of staff, to create the non-government email system.
In interrogatory responses, E.W. Priestap, assistant director of the FBI Counterintelligence Division, stated that the agency found Clinton email records in the Obama White House, specifically, the Executive Office of the President.
Jacob Sullivan, Clinton’s senior advisor and deputy chief of staff when she was secretary of state, testified that both he and Clinton used her unsecure non-government email system to conduct official State Department business.
Eric Boswell, former assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security during Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state, testified that Clinton was warned twice against using unsecure BlackBerrys and personal emails to transmit classified material.