It’s a claim former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has made repeatedly: “90 to 95 percent” of her work related emails were already captured on State Department servers long before the details of her secret personal server were ever known. She’s made this claim in order to deflect charges of attempting to hide her electronic communications and skirt federal archiving rules. It’s a claim Clinton repeated during her testimony before the House Select Committee on Benghazi.
Clinton, under oath, told committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, “90 to 95 percent of my work related emails were in the State system. If they wanted to see them they would certainly been able to do so.”
“That is maybe the 10th time you have cited that figure today,” Gowdy said. “And I have not heard anyone other than you cite that figure. Who told you that 90 to 95 percent of your emails were in the State Department system? Who told you that?”
“We learned that from the State Department and their analysis of the emails that were already on the system,” Clinton replied.
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However, the next day about this, State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner refused to verify Clinton’s claim.
Toner was asked, “Who at the State Department would’ve informed Clinton or her aides that 90 to 95 percent of her emails had been captured in State Department systems?” He replied he could not answer the question and suggested the inquiry be directed to the Clinton campaign.
“So, uh, aware of that exchange,” Toner said,”I’m not, frankly, in a position to do that right now. I would have to refer you, frankly, to her campaign team, which has used that figure previously, I think, and explained it in a fact sheet that they released. It was, frankly, her campaign staff that used it, the figure, so they can give you more information about the rationale or background behind it. I’m not aware that we have given that figure but, again, I’m not in a position right now to confirm that.”
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