FBI files show bid to change Clinton email's status

In this Sept. 8, 2016 file photo, Undersecretary of State for Management Patrick Kennedy testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington.
In this Sept. 8, 2016 file photo, Undersecretary of State for Management Patrick Kennedy testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington.

WASHINGTON -- A senior State Department official asked the FBI last year to help reduce the classification of an email from Hillary Clinton's private server, according to FBI investigative files made public Monday. It was to be part of a bargain that would have allowed the FBI to deploy more agents in foreign countries, according to the files.

It was not immediately clear whether the State Department official or someone at the FBI first raised the prospect of a bargain over the email's classification.

The bureau records, citing an FBI official whose name was censored, said Undersecretary for Management Patrick F. Kennedy sought assistance in exchange for a "quid pro quo."

But the FBI said Monday that it was the now-retired FBI official who first asked Kennedy about deploying more agents overseas. The State Department said the same.

The FBI ultimately rejected the idea, which would have allowed the State Department to archive a message related to the 2012 attacks on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, in the basement of its Washington headquarters "never to be seen again," according to the FBI files.

The email described reports in November 2012 that Libyan police were arresting suspects in the attack. It had been forwarded to Clinton's private email address by Jake Sullivan, one of her top aides and the department's director of policy planning, who was using his government email account.

Republicans seized on the report as collusion to protect Clinton, now the Democratic presidential nominee.

"CORRUPTION CONFIRMED: FBI confirms State Dept. offered 'quid pro quo' to cover up classified emails," read a tweet from Team Trump, retweeted by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon said the campaign had never been part of any such discussion about email classifications.

According to the FBI records, a bureau official said Kennedy "asked his assistance in altering the email's classification in exchange for a 'quid pro quo,'" and that in exchange, "State would reciprocate by allowing the FBI to place more agents in countries where they are presently forbidden."

"Although there was never a quid pro quo, these allegations were nonetheless referred to the appropriate officials for review," the FBI said in a statement Monday.

The State Department said Kennedy had been trying to understand the FBI's classification decisions.

"This allegation is inaccurate and does not align with the facts," department spokesman Mark Toner said.

The disclosure was included in 100 pages the FBI released from its now-closed investigation into whether the former secretary of state and her aides mishandled sensitive government information that flowed through the private email server located in her New York home.

The Associated Press reported the existence of the secret Benghazi-related email in May 2015, though the classified content of the document has never been made public.

At the time, administration officials acknowledged interagency disagreements about whether certain information in the emails was classified.

House Republicans said Monday that the reports of behind-the scenes maneuvering with the FBI were "extremely disturbing."

"Those who receive classified intelligence should not barter in it -- that is reckless behavior with our nation's secrets," said House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., in a joint statement.

Chaffetz first disclosed the alleged quid pro quo in an interview with Fox News on Saturday.

Information for this article was contributed by Matthew Lee of The Associated Press.

A Section on 10/18/2016

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