Washington – Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine on Sunday defended Hillary Clinton against criticism over her handling of classified information as secretary of state, saying she was unaware of the sensitivity of some information she exchanged over email because it had been “improperly labeled.”
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In July, the Federal Bureau of Investigation rebuked Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, for her use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state from 2009 to 2013, saying she was “extremely careless” in her handling of classified information.
According to records released by the FBI on Friday, Clinton told the bureau’s investigators in a July interview that she could not recall getting any briefings on how to handle classified information or comply with laws governing the preservation of federal records.
Kaine, a U.S. senator from Virginia who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees, told ABC’s program “This Week,” that the volume of information received by government officials often makes it difficult to know what information has been declared classified.
“There were emails that contained classified information that had been improperly marked. So when she received the email, the material that was classified – which is supposed to be flagged and identified as classified – in many instances was improperly labeled,” he said.
“We look at so much material, unless it is specifically pulled out and identified, it is difficult to know sometimes whether a statement or a paragraph is classified or not,” Kaine added.
Clinton, who is facing Republican Donald Trump for the White House in the Nov. 8 election, has been dogged for more than a year by the fallout from her decision to use an unauthorized private email account run from the basement of her Chappaqua, New York, home.
She repeatedly said she did not use it to send or receive classified information. The government forbids handling such information outside secure channels.
Contradicting Clinton’s comment that she never exchanged classified information over her private email server, the FBI said that at least 81 email threads contained information that was classified at the time, although the agency said the final number may be more than 2,000. While the FBI has scolded Clinton over the handling of classified information, the agency recommended that no criminal charges be filed against her.
Clinton has said that in hindsight she regretted using a private email system while secretary of state. Opinion polls show that voter concerns about Clinton’s honesty and trustworthiness are among her biggest vulnerabilities.
A series of surveys show the race has tightened over the past few weeks. In a Reuters/Ipsos poll taken during the week of Aug. 26 to Sept. 1, Trump had the support of 40 percent of likely voters while Clinton had the backing of 39 percent. Clinton’s support has dropped steadily in the weekly tracking poll since Aug. 25, eliminating what had been a eight-point lead for her.
He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Rodham new exactly what she was doing, and is guilty of illegal use of extremely highly classified information.
Hashem yerachem if he becomes Vice President, R”L.
The most improper labeling was Secretary Clinton. She was never qualified for the job. She lacked the skills needed, and her integrity was even worse. May Hashem protect us if she wins the election.
These liars and criminals are shameless. They’ll try hanging their crimes in everyone but themselves, and take everyone down without care. First she tried blaming Colin Powell. But then he as much called her a liar. Now they’re trying to blame the “I,properly labeled classifications!” What an embarrassment. She actually claims that she thought the (c) on the email referred to numbered paragraphs and not “classified!” She also answered 26 times to the FBI that she “couldn’t recall.” So either she’s completely clueless, or she’s overly forgetful, or she’s a lying criminal! None of those choices will make a competent president!
her unfavorable rating has gone up 6 points in the past 3 weeks! Finally some Americans are starting to face the truth. Voting in another Clinton will mean more corruption for personal wealth/gain (Clinton foundation scandal), more incompetence and lack of responsibility (email scandal), more lack of care and unfitness to serve (Benghazi), etc. etc etc.
Gee, Tim, do you mean she wiped the server clean with a cloth ? Duh.
Maybe she added Bleachbit so no one could ever see Chelsea wedding plans.
Kaine is fAble!
what a perfect team = LIAR +LIAR
Hillary is a no body, she only got anywhere because of she’s married to bill Clinton.
She hasn’t done one thing on her own.
And feminism support her.
She only got somewhere beckon a man. How ironic.
She’s a congenital liar. Most unqualified person to run for president.
ROTFLMHO no wonder why EVENthee Clinton News Network giggled when he said this.
The job of the Veep nominee is to take as much heat off the nominee as possible, by responding to points made by the opposition AND by going after the opposition. For that he’s going okay even if he looks like a shoyta.
The sad thing is that 45% of the electorate will vote for her, simply due the the D after her name. If we follow Hillary’s logic, D must be for despicable.
What everyone keeps missing is that she deliberately deleted the emails after she was asked for them; that’s criminal (not carelessness) and would normally result in jail time.
Well at least we correctly labelled Hillary —— “Liar!”