Hillary Clinton received 'Top Secret' intel at private email, new CIA review reportedly found

Hillary Clinton checks her phone in 2012

(Image credit: JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)

published 8 September 2015

A special intelligence review by the Central Intelligence Agency and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency has concurred with the intelligence community's inspector general that two emails then–Secretary of State Hillary Clinton received at her private email account were "Top Secret" at the time, The New York Times reports, citing unidentified senior intelligence officials. Sending classified secrets to non-secure accounts outside the government is illegal.

State Department spokesman John Kirby said that it is "premature" to conclude that any of Clinton's emails were classified at the time. "Very often both the State Department and the intelligence community acquire information on the same matter through separate channels," he said. "Thus, there can be two or more separate reports and not all of them based on classified means."

Clinton herself reiterated on Monday that none of her emails contained information marked classified at the time. "I did not send or receive any information marked classified," Clinton told The Associated Press. "I take the responsibilities of handling classified materials very seriously and did so." She added that the controversy over her email is "a distraction" but isn't affecting her campaign. And while using a private server while secretary of state was not a great choice in hindsight, she said, "What I did was allowed. It was allowed by the State Department. The State Department has confirmed that."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.

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