The State Department released more than 7,000 of Hillary Clinton’s work-related emails Monday, the fourth and largest such release to date of the former secretary of state’s correspondence.
The emails, most of which date from December 2009 to December 2010, include approximately 150 containing information that was upgraded to “confidential” status, the lowest category for classified information. That brings the total number of Clinton emails retroactively determined to contain classified information to more than 210.
That is in addition to four emails that the Intelligence Community inspector general determined contained information that was classified at the time that it traversed Clinton’s private email server.
Monday’s release is the third since a federal judge ordered the State Department to release Clinton’s emails once a month on a graduated schedule. While the agency fell behind on its production schedule following releases in June and July, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Monday afternoon that Monday’s release will compensate for the deficit. More than 25 percent of the more than 30,000 emails Clinton turned over to State in December have now been made public.
Here are the most intriguing Clinton emails from the latest release.
The State Department help desk didn’t know Clinton was using a personal email account
In a Feb. 27, 2010 email, a State Department help desk analyst email Clinton at her address, HDR22@clintonemail.com, to inform her that an email from Clinton caused a “permanent fatal error.”
Clinton contacted Huma Abedin, her deputy chief of staff, asking “do you know what this is?”
Abedin indicated that Clinton’s email account was on the fritz.
“Just email it”: Clinton asked aide to send an email maintained on a classified system
One email exchange from Feb. 10, 2010 shows that Clinton encouraged one of her aides, Jake Sullivan, to send an email maintained on a classified network to her personal email address.
Sullivan informed Clinton that he had to wait for “ops” to convert a document to an unclassified system “so that it can be emailed to you.”
Clinton asked for the email immediately, but Sullivan had to inform her that he was physically unable to send the email.
Bill Clinton thought Sidney Blumenthal’s off-the-books reports were “brilliant”
Hillary Clinton has tried to downplay the input she received from Sidney Blumenthal by claiming that the email intelligence reports her longtime friend sent to her were “unsolicited.”
Emails released in the previous tranches showed that Clinton encouraged Blumenthal to send her reports on international goings-on. Monday’s release showed that Clinton was so enamored with Blumenthal’s analysis that she shared it with her husband.
Blumenthal told Hillary that Speaker of the House John Boehner is “louche, alcoholic, lazy”
In a Nov. 2, 2010 synopsis of the mid-term election, Blumenthal slammed Boehner as ineffectual and unpopular with the more conservative members of his party.
“They are repelled by his personal behavior,” Blumenthal wrote. “He is louche, alcoholic, lazy, and without any commitment to any principle.
“He is careworn and threadbare, banal and hollow, holding nobody’s enduring loyalty.”
Concerns about ability of Chinese hackers…sent to Hillary her privately-hosted email account
Mark Penn, a longtime Clinton insider and former Microsoft executive, emailed Clinton on Nov. 28, 2010 about the Wikileaks hack of State Department cables and records.
While Penn said that the Wikileaks hack was serious, he expressed concern that if the loosely organized group could cause such havoc, countries like China could do much worse.
Many observers have questioned whether Clinton’s private server was ever hacked by Russia or China. Clinton has denied that the server was infiltrated.
“Pls do not forward to anyone and delete after reading”
In one mysterious message sent on Jan. 30, 2010, Clinton instructed Rajiv Shah, who had just been appointed director of U.S. Agency for International Development, to delete a sensitive email after reading it. The identity of the recipient is redacted.
Lanny Davis asked Clinton to “please, please, please” do him a favor
The political fixer and longtime Clinton associate emailed Clinton in Sept. 2010 begging her to speak with a reporter who was planning to write what he feared was a hit piece.
Davis had given the reporter, American Lawyer’s David Levine, a list of contacts he hoped would portray him in a positive light.
But Davis appeared to still be fearful that the article would damage his reputation and his career.
“Please please please* note there are *three please*: *Do not be bashful or concerned about saying no to my request,” Davis wrote Clinton.
Clinton forwarded the email to two of her top aides, Cheryl Mills and Philippe Reines, asking for advice. Their responses are heavily redacted.
While Clinton did not comment for the article, all worked out for Davis. The article, entitled “The Lanny Davis Show,” was flattering enough that Davis posted it to his website.