Chuck Grassley, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, would very much like to understand why Hillary Clinton and 6 of her closest "research aides" may still have access to classified State Department information despite FBI Director Comey's assertion that they were "extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information."
And, after sending numerous requests to John Kerry's State Department that 'shockingly' fell on deaf ears, Grassely has sent a letter to Secretary of State Tillerson asking why Hillary's security clearance hasn't yet been revoked given that "any other government workers who engaged in such serious offenses would, at a minimum, have their clearances suspended pending an investigation."
I have repeatedly asked the State Department whether Secretary Clinton and her associates had their clearances suspended or revoked to which the Obama Administration refused to respond. Recently, the State Department informed the Committee that six additional Secretary Clinton staff at State were designated as her research assistants which allowed them to retain their clearances after leaving the Department.
Director Comey stated that Secretary Clinton and staff were “extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information” and “there is evidence of potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information…”
Any other government workers who engaged in such serious offenses would, at a minimum, have their clearances suspended pending an investigation. The failure to do so has given the public the impression that Secretary Clinton and her associates received special treatment.
Fox News corespondent Ed Henry covered the situation this morning on Fox and Friends:
“We’re learning from Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley that she and six staffers in 2013 retained clearances where they still had access to top secret and classified information, Why? They were titled ‘research assistants.’ So the assumption on Capitol Hill is it was because she was writing her memoirs and saying, ‘Look, I still need access to this information in order to go through what happened in Syria, what happened with Russia. But obviously think back to what James Comey said in how Hillary Clinton handled classified information.”
“He obviously believes something needs to be done about this. The only positive for Chuck Grassley at this point is, there’s no longer a Democrat at the State Department, obviously. You got Rex Tillerson, so if you have these documents on why she retained these clearances, and for example does she still have a clearance today? A lot of former officials get to keep these clearances for years — when they’re consultants … some of them like to retain it because they say I was in the middle of all of these important issues. I need to keep abreast of it. Been then some of these folks in Washington — they say drain the swamp.”
Hillary Clinton and 6 aides had access to classified State Department information after she left office, lawmaker says | @edhenry pic.twitter.com/hJzHUaD7zC
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) March 31, 2017
Something tells us that the current State Department regime may be more responsive to Grassley's request for information.
The full text of Grassley’s letter can be read below:
* * *March 30, 2017
VIA ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION
The Honorable Rex W. TillersonSecretaryU.S. Department of StateWashington, D.C. 20520
Dear Secretary Tillerson:
The Bureau of Diplomatic Security is the administrative body within the State Department that handles security clearance investigations, suspensions, and if needed, revocations. During the course of the Committee’s investigation into Secretary Clinton’s mishandling of classified information and the impact of her private server on the Freedom of Information Act, on February 16, 2016 then-Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security Greg Starr met with Committee staff. Assistant Director Starr informed my staff that Secretary Clinton’s security clearance, and those of her staff, had not been suspended or revoked because Diplomatic Security was waiting until the FBI concluded its criminal investigation before beginning an administrative review. On March 24, 2016, Committee staff met again with Mr. Starr and asked the same questions and received the same responses. I have repeatedly asked the State Department whether Secretary Clinton and her associates had their clearances suspended or revoked to which the Obama Administration refused to respond. Recently, the State Department informed the Committee that six additional Secretary Clinton staff at State were designated as her research assistants which allowed them to retain their clearances after leaving the Department.
On July 5, 2016, Director Comey announced that “[a]fter a tremendous amount of work over the last year, the FBI is completing its investigation and referring the case to the Department of Justice for a prosecutive decision.”[2] Director Comey stated that Secretary Clinton and staff were “extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information” and “there is evidence of potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information…”[3] Director Comey said.
There is evidence to support a conclusion that any reasonable person in Secretary Clinton’s position, or in the position of those with whom she was corresponding about the matters, should have known that an unclassified system was no place for that conversation.[4]
However, Director Comey did not recommend criminal prosecution. In announcing that decision, he also noted that “[t]o be clear, this is not to suggest that in similar circumstances, a person who engaged in this activity would face no consequences. To the contrary, those individuals are often subject to security or administrative sanctions.”[5]
It is unclear what steps the State Department has taken to impose administrative sanctions.
Any other government workers who engaged in such serious offenses would, at a minimum, have their clearances suspended pending an investigation. The failure to do so has given the public the impression that Secretary Clinton and her associates received special treatment.
Please provide answers to the following questions:
- Does the State Department agree with the FBI’s finding that Secretary Clinton and her staff were “extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information” and that “there is evidence of potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information…”?
- Does the State Department agree with the FBI’s finding that “[t]here is evidence to support a conclusion that any reasonable person in Secretary Clinton’s position, or in the position of those with whom she was corresponding about the matters, should have known that an unclassified system was no place for that conversation”?
- Does the State Department agree with the FBI’s finding that despite not recommending criminal prosecution, “this is not to suggest that in similar circumstances, a person who engaged in this activity would face no consequences. To the contrary, those individuals are often subject to security or administrative sanctions”?
- As a result of the FBI investigation, has the State Department begun a security review due to the mishandling of classified information by Secretary Clinton and her colleagues and associates? If so, which individuals’ clearances are part of the review? If not, why not? Please explain.
- As a result of the FBI investigation, has the State Department suspended or revoked Secretary Clinton’s clearance or that of any of her colleagues or associates, to include her subordinates at State and her attorneys? If so, which individuals? If not, why not? Please explain.
Please number your answers according to their corresponding questions. I anticipate that your written response and the responsive documents will be unclassified. Please send all unclassified material directly to the Committee. In keeping with the requirements of Executive Order 13526, if any of the responsive documents do contain classified information, please segregate all unclassified material within the classified documents, provide all unclassified information directly to the Committee, and provide a classified addendum to the Office of Senate Security. The Committee complies with all laws and regulations governing the handling of classified information. The Committee is not bound, absent its prior agreement, by any handling restrictions or instructions on unclassified information unilaterally asserted by the Executive Branch.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation with this request. Please respond to this request by April 13, 2017. Should you have any questions, please contact Josh Flynn-Brown of my Judiciary Committee staff at (202) 224-5225. Thank you for your cooperation.
Sincerely,
Charles E. GrassleyChairmanCommittee on the Judiciary