State: Hundreds of Old Clinton Emails Newly Classified

The State Department said Thursday that portions of 275 emails released on Thursday from Hillary Clinton’s time as secretary of state have been newly classified, bringing 2015 to a close for the Democratic presidential front-runner.

Clinton has said she didn’t send or receive information that was classified at the time via her personal email account, which was run on a private server at her New York home. Republicans have repeatedly questioned whether her use of a private email system put sensitive information at risk.

In all, the State Department said 1,274 of Clinton’s emails have been retroactively classified since the department started reviewing them for public release.

Two emails released Thursday were designated “secret,” the second-highest level of classification, which applies to information that could cause serious damage to national security if released. Most of the emails were classified “confidential,” which is the lowest level of classification.

In a statement Thursday night, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said, “With more than 1,250 emails containing classified information now uncovered, Hillary Clinton’s decision to put secrecy over national security by exclusively operating off of a secret email server looks even more reckless.”

About 5,500 pages of Clinton emails were released on the final day of 2015. Here’s a look at what was in the latest batch:

Email Use

Clinton and one of her closest aides, Jake Sullivan, had an exchange in September 2010 that showed considerable confusion over her email practices.

“I’m never sure which of my emails you receive, so pls let me know if you receive this one and on which address you did,” she wrote to Sullivan on a Sunday morning.

A few hours later Sullivan responded: “I have just received this email on my personal account, which I check much less frequently than my State Department account. I have not received any emails from you on my State account in recent days — for example, I did not get the email you sent to me and (Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs Jeff) Feltman on the Egyptian custody case. Something is very wrong with the connection there.”

Sullivan added, “I suppose a near-term fix is to just send messages to this account — my personal account — and I will check it more frequently.”

Clinton also cited trouble with her BlackBerry in January 2012, according to one of her emails. “Sorry for the delay in responding,” she wrote to Jamie Rubin, a diplomat and journalist, saying her BlackBerry was having “a nervous breakdown on my dime!”

Soros

Billionaire George Soros, a major donor to liberal causes, confided to a former Clinton aide that he made the wrong choice in supporting Barack Obama in the 2008 primaries over Clinton.

Soros told Neera Tanden during a dinner sponsored by Democracy Alliance, a liberal group, that he “regretted his decision in the primary — he likes to admit mistakes when he makes them and that was one of them,” Tanden told Clinton in a May 2012 email. “He then extolled his work with you from your time as First Lady on.”

Tanden also said Soros had been “impressed that he can always call/meet” with Clinton on policy issues but he hadn’t yet met with Obama. Soros has been a major donor to Priorities USA, a pro-Clinton Democratic super PAC.

2010 Midterms 

Politics was never far from Clinton’s mind at the State Department. In September 2010, as Republicans threatened to take the majority in the House, Clinton told former policy adviser Neera Tanden, president of the left-leaning think tank Center for American Progress, “I confess I’m bewildered at how poorly the Dems are doing in driving any message and putting the Rs on the defensive.”

“Do you and CAP have any ideas as to how to change the dynamic — before it’s too late?” Clinton asked. Losing the House would, she wrote, “be a disaster in every way.”

Republicans seized control of the House in the 2010 midterm elections in what President Barack Obama later called a “shellacking.”

Chicago 

Clinton showed keen interest in the politics of her hometown of Chicago when longtime Mayor Richard M. Daley announced in September 2010 he would not run for re-election.

Betsy Ebeling, Clinton’s close childhood friend, told Clinton in an email that she was in “shock.” Clinton responded: “I’m in shock too,” asking Ebeling to “share any and all insights into this huge news (as any real Chicagoan knows it to be!)”

Ebeling said the next day that “Rahm rumors are everywhere,” referencing then-White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, who is now Chicago’s mayor.

Clinton replied: “I can’t tell yet whether Rahm will actually decide to run. So it will be a wild ride the next few months.”

Missed Deadline 

The State Department said it wouldn’t meet a court-ordered goal of making 82 percent of Clinton’s emails from her time at State public by year’s end. The department said prior to Thursday’s release that while it has “worked diligently” to come close to the goal, it will fall short because of the large number of documents involved and the holiday schedule.

The department said Thursday it plans to release more Clinton emails next week.

It should be noted that a federal judge set the schedule for the release of the emails, not Clinton or the department.