Information in Clinton emails determined to be beyond the designation of 'top secret'

Hillary Clinton at a press conference about her emails.

(Image credit: Yana Paskova/Stringer/Getty Images)

last updated 20 January 2016

Officials reviewing emails sent and received by Hillary Clinton during her time as Secretary of State have found material "of a higher level of classification than 'top secret,'" according to The New York Times. It is forbidden for classified information to be shared outside of government computer servers; Clinton has fallen under scrutiny for using a personal server while in office.

The news was revealed in a letter dated last Thursday, stating that some information in Clinton's emails is "top secret/SAP," which refers to "special access programs." Such "special access programs" are often intelligence-gathering operations by the Pentagon and C.I.A.

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"This is the same interagency dispute that has been playing out for months, and it does not change the fact that these emails were not classified at the time they were sent or received," Brian Fallon, a spokesman for the Clinton campaign, said."It appears that this may still revolve around a State Department employee forwarding a published news article about the drone program," he said. "If so, it would further reinforce how absurd it is to suggest that Secretary Clinton did anything wrong." [The New York Times]

It is not clear if Clinton sent or received the emails, although the government has said she is not the subject of the investigation. Last year, two of Clinton's emails were determined to contain "top secret" information.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.