A review by a top intelligence official has found that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent at least four classified messages from the private email server she used while in office.
The Inspector General of the Intelligence Community sent a letter to members of Congress on Thursday saying the emails from Clinton’s server should have been classified as “secret.”
{mosads}A copy of the missive was obtained by The Wall Street Journal.
The four emails “were classified when they were sent and are classified now,” Andrea Williams, a spokeswoman for the inspector general, told the newspaper.
The watchdog office has reviewed only 40 emails from Clinton’s server, out of a total of more than 30,000 she sent and received while helming the Department of State.
The discovery prompted the intelligence IG to refer the matter to the FBI. A Justice Department official confirmed that the agency had received a referral to look into the matter.
The discovery directly contradicts repeated statements by Clinton, a 2016 presidential contender, and her campaign, that she did not send classified information via the server.
“I did not email any classified material to anyone on my email. There is no classified material,” Clinton said in March. “I’m certainly aware of the classified requirements and did not send classified material.”
The revelation is sure to play into the GOP’s attacks on Clinton, who it has tried to paint as untrustworthy.
It is also likely to boost calls from congressional Republicans for Clinton to hand the server over to a neutral third party.
Early reports found the State Department had referred the matter to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Select Committee on Benghazi Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) to renew the demands.
“If Secretary Clinton truly has nothing to hide, she can prove it by immediately turning over her server to the proper authorities and allowing them to examine the complete record,” Boehner said.
“Her poor judgment has undermined our national security and it is time for her to finally do the right thing,” he added.
Gowdy said the development “certainly merits further review by the executive branch to determine the legal and national security implications posed by the former secretary’s unusual email arrangement, in order to mitigate any potential counterintelligence risks and minimize the damage caused by this scheme.”