This article has been updated.
Hillary Clinton dismissed the latest controversy over her private email server in New York City Friday, saying, “Maybe the heat is getting to everybody.”
Ahead of a what her campaign billed as a major speech on economic reform at New York University, Clinton said there were “a lot of inaccuracies” in new reports about potentially classified information on the private email server she used exclusively as secretary of state.
She vowed to “do my part” to answer questions on her email server, but did not dwell on the issue long. “I’m also going to stay focused – particularly on the big issues that really matter to American families,” she said, before turning to her prepared remarks on policy.
Two government inspectors general have referred issues related to Clinton’s email server to the Department of Justice for potential investigation. The department said Friday, however, that the the referrals were not for a criminal investigation, contradicting earlier reports.
Rep. Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the House panel investigating the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, also said Friday that the State Department’s Inspector General personally told him Thursday that the watchdog had never requested a criminal investigation.
RELATED: The New York Times’ Clinton email controversy: A timeline
That contradicts reports from the The New York Times, which initially reported that the State Department and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence inspectors general called for a criminal investigation into potential classified information on Clinton email server. The story was later clarified to say the investigation was requested in connection with Clinton’s server, but not necessarily of Clinton herself.
Her campaign is stepping up its confrontation with The New York Times over their reporting.
“It is now more clear than ever that the New York Times report claiming there is a criminal inquiry sought in Hillary Clinton’s use of email is false,” Clinton spokesperson Nick Merrill said in a statement. “It has now been discredited both by the Justice Department and the Ranking Member of the House Oversight Committee. This incident shows the danger of relying on reckless, inaccurate leaks from partisan sources.”
On Twitter, another Clinton spokesperson called on the newspaper to issue a correction on its story.
Just in: Clinton camp's @NickMerrill going after NYT in fresh statement: pic.twitter.com/F5uPXCvQp6
— Alex Seitz-Wald (@aseitzwald) July 24, 2015They request was made after finding potentially hundreds of classified emails among a small sample of some 55,000 pages of emails contained on Clinton’s private email server, which was located inside her New York home.
Hillary Clinton sent at least four emails from her personal email account containing classified information during her tenure as Secretary of State, according to a letter sent to members Congress from a government watchdog first obtained by the Wall Street Journal.
The Inspector General of the Intelligence Community informed Congress of its finding in a letter, saying the emails “were classified when they were sent and are classified now.” The emails should have been marked “secret,” the second highest tier of classification. In a statement early Friday, Clinton campaign spokesman Nick Merrill said she “followed appropriate practices in dealing with classified materials.” He added: “As has been reported on multiple occasions, any released emails deemed classified by the administration have been done so after the fact, and not at the time they were transmitted.” Clinton has said she did nothing wrong. RELATED: Clinton camp tries to answer all your email questions at once “I fully complied with every rule I was governed by,” she old reporters during a news conference in March after her use of a private email account was disclosed. “I did not email any classified material to anyone on my email. There is no classified material.” Clinton has come under fire for using a private server and a personal email account rather than a government address to conduct official business. The State Department has been releasing vetted documents at the request of journalists and Clinton herself, who has said that she wants them to be made public.
Alex Seitz-Wald
Kristen Welker
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