State IG: Classified email found from Powell, Rice tenures
WASHINGTON — The State Department watchdog has found that former Secretary of State Colin Powell and the immediate staff of former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also received classified national security information on their personal email accounts, a senior House Democrat said Thursday.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's use of a personal email server has dogged her presidential campaign, and news that her predecessors in Republican administrations might have received such information on nonsecure servers could help her blunt the criticism.
The State Department inspector general has told Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., that it has determined that two emails sent to Powell and 10 others sent to Rice's staff also contained classified national security information. Powell and Rice were top diplomats under Republican President George W. Bush.
"My concern has been that Republicans are spending millions of taxpayer dollars singling out Secretary Clinton because she is running for president — often leaking inaccurate information — while at the same time disregarding the actions of Republican secretaries of state," Cummings said in a statement in which he accused the GOP of using congressional committees to mar Clinton's candidacy.
In a statement, Powell said the emails were from his executive assistant. He said they were forwarded messages that two U.S. ambassadors sent to members of the State Department's staff. "My executive assistant thought I should see them in a timely manner so sent them to my personal account," he said.
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