Paul: Clinton email probe requests ‘pretty damning’

Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) said Sunday that reports the Justice Department was asked to look into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of private email confirmed certain accusations.

{mosads}”I think it’s pretty damning that President Obama’s Justice Department has even brought this up,” Paul, a Republican presidential candidate, said on “Fox News Sunday.”

“The fact that they are saying that they’re concerned that classified information was transferred,” Paul said.

A New York Times report late Thursday said that two inspectors general had asked the Justice Department to look into whether any sensitive information was mishandled relating to Clinton’s email.

A second report from The Wall Street Journal on Friday said the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community had told Congress in a letter that some Clinton emails should have been classified as “secret.”

That inspector general said at least four emails, out of a small review of 40 emails, were classified when Clinton sent them. She said in March she “did not email any classified material to anyone on my email.”

The Justice Department said Friday it was notified of the requests and was considering its next steps.

“I think people have to understand how many things are classified,” Paul said Sunday on Fox. “Even her daily schedule is classified, to protect her and to protect the people who protect her.”

“Think about if she had emailed the ambassador in Benghazi. Unfortunately, I don’t think she ever did communicate with him. And had she, just tipping off people to his whereabouts through email would be something that is very sensitive, if not classified,” Paul said.

“I don’t understand how she can skate by and act as if she wasn’t aware of the law,” Paul added, citing the case of a former ambassador who was criticized for using private email during Clinton’s term.

Paul also pushed back on the suggestion that his campaign has lost momentum in a crowded Republican field, which has seen businessman Donald Trump dominate headlines for weeks since his mid-June launch.

“I’m not so sure we have,” Paul said, referring to polling suggesting he would be the GOP candidate best suited to take on Clinton.