State Department Widens Investigation into Clinton Email Server

The U.S. State Department has ramped up its probe into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s private email server usage, with investigators questioning numerous aides of the Obama-era official in recent weeks, according to a report.

On Saturday, the Washington Post reported State Department officials informed up to 130 Clinton aides that they were found to be “culpable” of handling information that was classified lower than they should have been when transmitted through the private server.

Although some former Obama administration officials have attempted to discredit the investigation by accusing the Trump administration of targeting them, one official retorted that “the process is set up in a manner to completely avoid any appearance of political bias.”

“This has nothing to do with who is in the White House,” another official affirmed. “This is about the time it took to go through millions of emails, which is about three and a half years.”

An FBI examination of Clinton’s server found over 100 emails containing classified information, including 65 emails deemed “Secret” and 22 deemed “Top Secret”. An additional 2,093 emails not marked classified were retroactively classified by the State Department.

Some experts charge Clinton broke multiple laws, including 18 U.S. Code § 1924, which forbids “unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material.”

And yet, the FBI determined in July 2016 that Clinton did not commit any crimes, yet characterized her email usage as “reckless.”  Then-FBI Director James Comey infamously drafted a statement exonerating Clinton prior to the probe’s completion.

In June 2018, Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz issued a stinging rebuke of the FBI’s handling of the investigation. The federal watchdog’s report labeled Comey’s conduct during the probe as “insubordinate,” though it said the bureau chief was found not to have been motivated by political bias or preference in his decisions to absolve Clinton.