Hillary Clinton said during a Fox News town hall Monday that the FBI had not informed her or any members of her staff that they are the targets of the investigation into the mishandling of classified information on her private email server.
Host Bret Baier asked Clinton several pointed questions about her private email system and the ongoing FBI investigation, including whether it was true neither she nor her attorneys have been apprised that she is a target of the probe.
“Absolutely true,” Clinton said.
And asked if she has been apprised whether her State Department aides, who frequently sent her classified emails, have been named targets of the investigation.
“Absolutely not,” Clinton said.
Clinton has downplayed the nature of the investigation, going as far as calling it only a “security review.” But the Justice Department’s attorneys finally said last month that it is conducting an investigation.
In a letter pertaining to a lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch, which is suing for various State Department records, Justice Department general counsel James Baker said he could not “publicly acknowledged the specific focus, scope or potential targets of any such proceedings.”
The inquiry began in August after the intelligence community inspector general discovered emails containing “Top Secret” information on Clinton’s server. FBI investigators then seized the server.
Bryan Pagliano, the IT staffer who managed Clinton’s server while working at the State Department, has also been granted immunity in exchange for his cooperation with the investigation. In September he invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during a brief hearing in front of the House Select Committee on Benghazi.
Since that news was reported last week, Clinton has claimed that she is pleased that Pagliano is cooperating.
As Buzzfeed noted, federal prosecutors generally send a “target letter” to individuals under investigation that they are the center of a federal probe. Such letters generally seek cooperation with the investigation and propose a proffer session.
During Monday’s town hall she reiterated her claims that none of the information she sent or received was “marked” classified when she handled it. Baier did not press her on a Classified Information Nondisclosure Agreement that she signed when she started at the State Department acknowledging that classified information is classified whether marked or unmarked. (RELATED: Document Completely Undermines Hillary’s Classified Email Defense)
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