As the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails intensified on Wednesday, the Democratic presidential candidate's campaign attempted to reassure supporters there was no classified information on her private server and attacked her Republican opponents.
An email message from Clinton campaign communications director Jennifer Palemieri stated, “You might hear some news over the next few days about Hillary Clinton's emails.”
“Hillary didn't send any classified materials over email: Hillary only used her personal account for unclassified email,” Palemieri said in the message that went out Wednesday. “No information in her emails was marked classified at the time she sent or received them. She viewed classified materials in hard copy in her office or via other secure means while traveling, not on email.”
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at a town hall meeting at Exeter High School August 10, 2015 in Exeter, New Hampshire. Clinton discussed college affordability and student debt relief. (Photo by Darren McCollester/Getty Images)
The campaign announced Tuesday that Clinton was providing her private email server to the FBI, which is reviewing whether any classified information was sent or received on the private server while she served as secretary of state. At least two of the emails that came through Clinton’s insecure home email server, were deemed “Top Secret, Sensitive Compartmented Information,” which is among the government’s highest classifications, according to the inspector general of the intelligence community.
The talking points also go after Republican presidential candidates and Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), chairman of the House Select Committee on Benghazi.
“It's worth noting: Many of the Republican candidates for president have done the same things for which they're now criticizing Hillary,” the talking points said. “As governor, Jeb Bush owned his own private server and his staff decided which emails he turned over as work-related from his private account. Bobby Jindal went a step further, using private email to communicate with his immediate staff but refusing to release his work-related emails. Scott Walker and Rick Perry had email issues themselves.”
The message directs readers to a “fact sheet” about the email controversy.
On Benghazi, the Clinton campaign used the phrase “witch hunt.”
“What about the Benghazi committee? While you may hear from the Republican-led Benghazi committee about Hillary's emails, it is important to remember that the committee was formed to focus on learning lessons from Benghazi to help prevent future tragedies at our embassies and consulates around the globe,” Palemieri’s message said. “Instead, the committee, led by Republican Representative Trey Gowdy, is spending nearly $6 million in taxpayer money to conduct a partisan witch-hunt designed to do political damage to Hillary in the run-up to the election.”
It's not a surprise to see the Clinton campaign defense ignore "inconvenient facts," Benghazi select committee spokesman Jamal Ware told TheBlaze.
“The Intelligence Community Inspector General nominated by President Obama and confirmed by the Senate when it was controlled by Democrats determined emails on Secretary Clinton’s server contained Top Secret, compartmented intelligence information, not the Benghazi Committee," Ware said.
"That determination was confirmed by the proper interagency process and classification authorities, and its implications are being investigated by the FBI. It is not surprising then to see those around Secretary Clinton launch desperate political attacks against the Benghazi Committee to distract from these inconvenient facts," he added. "The Benghazi Committee uncovered her unusual email arrangement with herself, but it is Secretary Clinton who chose to set up this unprecedented arrangement, and she alone bears responsibility for the consequences of that choice.”
TheBlaze also reached out to the Republican presidential candidates attacked in the email, as well as Clinton's Democratic primary opponents about the email matter.
"We followed the law and comply with all public records requests — which cannot be said about Secretary Clinton, who swore to protect the United States and its interests, but instead chose to be reckless with classified documents and our national security," Jindal spokeswoman Shannon Dirmann told TheBlaze. "She is one e-mail away from going to jail."
A source close to the Walker campaign said: “The heart of the matter is whether Clinton's exclusive use of private email put classified information at risk. The Intelligence Community Inspector General’s contention that top secret information was found on her private server proves Hillary Clinton put her own personal convenience ahead of the safety and security of the American people. Therefore, she cannot be trusted to be commander in chief.”
Clinton's leading Democratic opponent is Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, whose campaign was reluctant to weigh in.
"The senator's focus remains on how to help the middle class and take on the billionaire class," Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs told TheBlaze.
While the FBI is looking into the matter, the Clinton campaign further sought to ease concerns that this was a criminal investigation.
“To be clear, there is absolutely no criminal inquiry into Hillary's email or email server. Any and all reports to that effect have been widely debunked,” the message said. “Hillary directed her team to provide her email server and a thumb drive in order to cooperate with the review process and to ensure these materials were stored in a safe and secure manner.”
The message added, “Like other Secretaries of State who served before her, Hillary used a personal email address, and the rules of the State Department permitted it.”
In this portion, the message does not mention that Clinton used a private server.
But the message repeated Clinton’s earlier assertion about hindsight, saying, “She's already acknowledged that, in hindsight, it would have been better just to use separate work and personal email accounts. No one disputes that.”
This post was updated to include comment from the presidential campaigns of Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
