AP Corrects Story That Suggested Clinton Didn’t Want “Anybody” To Access Her State Department Emails

The original version of an Associated Press article misrepresented comments made by Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin, misleadingly claiming Abedin told investigators that Clinton did not want her State Department emails accessible to “anybody” during her time as Secretary of State. The article was corrected to point out that Abedin was only referring to Clinton’s private emails.

The Associated Press reported on Huma Abedin’s deposition testimony transcript in a June 29 article on a conservative group’s ongoing civil lawsuit regarding Clinton’s use of a private email server. The article initially reported that Clinton “did not want the State Department emails that she sent and received on her private computer server to be accessible.”

However, the transcript from Huma Abedin’s deposition shows she repeatedly testified Clinton was concerned others would be able to access her “private personal emails,” not her State Department government emails. The original AP report did not acknowledge Abedin specified Clinton’s concerns were about non-government emails until its seventh paragraph.

The AP updated the article more than two hours after publication with a new opening that noted the distinction. The updated report’s opening paragraph clarified “Clinton did not want the private emails that she mixed in with State Department emails on her private computer server to be accessible.” The Associated Press did not issue a formal correction.

Other news sources made clear that Abedin’s testimony was in reference to Clinton’s concern about her personal emails, not her official government emails. Bloomberg noted that Abedin testified that Clinton was worried about others accessing her personal “non-government messages,” The Hill clarified that Abedin’s deposition pointed to “nonofficial email messages unrelated to [Clinton’s] duties on the job,” and CNN reported that Abedin “repeatedly said it was Clinton protecting her personal emails from being read -- and not about hiding government communications.”