Conservative Outlet Runs Report Linking Clinton NDA For Classified Disclosures To Two Allegedly Top Secret Emails She Received

Washington Free Beacon: Clinton Signed Document Laying Out Criminal Penalties For Mishandling Classified Info, But Received “At Least Two” Top Secret Emails. The conservative Washington Free Beacon reported on November 6 that Clinton had signed a document “that laid out criminal penalties for 'any unauthorized disclosure' of classified information.” The Beacon contrasted this document with the Inspector General for the Intelligence Community's (IG IC) statement that Clinton had received two emails that contained top secret information. From the article:

A day after assuming office as secretary of state, Clinton signed a Sensitive Compartmented Information Nondisclosure Agreement that laid out criminal penalties for “any unauthorized disclosure” of classified information.

[...]

Clinton received at least two emails while secretary of state on her personal email server since marked “TS/SCI”--top secret/sensitive compartmented information--according to the U.S. intelligence community's inspector general.

The State Department said in September that Clinton's private email system, set up at her Chappaqua, N.Y., home, was not authorized to handle SCI.

[...]

“TS/SCI is very serious and specific information that jumps out at you and screams 'classified,'” Larry Mrozinski, a former U.S. counterterrorism official, told the New York Post in August. “It's hard to imagine that in her position she would fail to recognize the obvious.” [Washington Free Beacon, 11/6/15]

Later That Day, Intelligence Community Reportedly Says Emails Were Not Highly Classified

Politico Reports Office Of Director Of National Intelligence Found The Emails Were Not Top Secret, Overruling IG IC. Politico reported later on November 6 that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has now overruled the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community's prior conclusion that two emails received by Clinton contained highly classified information. As Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists explained to Politico, this “mistake” is nothing short than “astonishing” because "[i]t was a transformative event in the presidential campaign to this point. It had a potential to derail Clinton's presidential candidacy." From the article:

The U.S. intelligence community has retreated from claims that two emails in Hillary Clinton's private account contained top secret information, a source familiar with the situation told POLITICO.

The determination came from Director of National Intelligence James Clapper's office and concluded that the two emails did not include highly classified intelligence secrets. Concerns about the emails' classification helped trigger an on-going FBI inquiry into Clinton's private email set-up.

Intelligence Community Inspector General I. Charles McCullough III made the claim that two of the emails contained top secret information, the State Department publicly stated its disagreement and asked Clapper's office to referee the dispute. Now, that disagreement has been resolved in State's favor, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Intelligence officials claimed one email in Clinton's account was classified because it contained information from a top secret intelligence community “product” or report, but a further review determined that the report was not issued until several days after the email in question was written, the source said.

“The initial determination was based on a flawed process,” the source said. “There was an intelligence product people thought [one of the emails] was based on, but that actually postdated the email in question.” [Politico, 11/6/15]

Fox Runs With Free Beacon Report Anyway, Ignoring Report That Emails Clinton Received Hadn't Been Highly Classified

Fox Host Highlights “Bombshell Document,” Ignoring Report That Emails To Clinton Were Not Top Secret. Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson and correspondent Mike Emanuel reported on the Free Beacon story, which Carlson described as focused on a “bombshell document adding new fuel to the Hillary Clinton email controversy.” They did not address the Politico report debunking the claim that the emails to Clinton were highly classified. From Fox News' The Real Story:

GRETCHEN CARLSON (HOST): Breaking news now. Bombshell document adding new fuel to the Hillary Clinton email controversy. Chief political correspondent Mike Emanuel live for us in D.C. What have we found out, Mike?

MIKE EMANUEL: Well, Gretchen, Fox News has confirmed that Hillary Clinton signed a sensitive compartmented information nondisclosure agreement right after being sworn into office as secretary of state,back in 2009. The report was first in the Washington Free Beacon and the authenticity of the document has been confirmed to Fox News State Department officials. In the document signed by Clinton, it says “I have been advised that the unauthorized disclosure, unauthorized retention, or negligent handling of SCI, sensitive compartmented information, by me could cause irreparable injury to the United States to be used to advantage by a foreign nation.” The agreement Clinton signed also says, “Iunderstand that it is my responsibility to consult with appropriate management authorities in the Department in order to ensure that I know whether information or material within my knowledge or control that I have reason to believe might be SCI.” The documentation was initially obtained by the Competitive Enterprise Institute through a freedom of information request. Hillary Clinton, the Democratic front runner, has faced months of questions about her handling of classified information, most recently in front of the Benghazi Select Committee during a marathon 11-hour session. The revelations about her private email server has hurt her poll numbers on issues of honesty and being trustworthy. I've reached out to the Clinton campaign for comment but have not gotten a response so far. Gretchen.

CARLSON: So it's an interesting development because many people thought she probably had signed this documentbecause most employees do. I'm remembering back to General David Petraeus,who also signed this document and that got him into a lot of difficulty any his particular case. Right?

EMANUEL: It does,because it lays out in great detail exactly what your responsibilities are if you're one offers these senior government officials handling this sensitive information,and it tells you the potential penalties of mishandling that information. And so,when General David Petraeus, a war hero, had signed this document but had shared the information with his mistress at the time, it got him into hot water. Basically, his signature was on the document and he had done something that he was not supposed to do. And so, obviously we thought she had signed it, but now we're actually seeing it with our own eyes. Gretchen. [Fox News, The Real Story, 11/6/15]

Fox Had Previously Used TheSupposedly Top Secret Emails To Suggest Clinton And Her Aides Had Broken The Law

Fox News Wildly Pushed Anonymous Source's Claim That Clinton Aides Illegally “Stripped” Top Secret Markings From Emails. Fox News spent much of August 13 running with speculation from an anonymous State Department official that aides to Hillary Clinton had “stripped” the classification markings of the two emails, going so far as to state the claim as fact and speculate that Clinton aides Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills may have done the alleged deed. [Media Matters, 8/14/15]

Fox Repeatedly Suggested That Clinton Should Have Known Emails Were Highly Classified Regardless Of Whether They Were Marked. Fox News hosts and contributors repeatedly suggested that even if the emails she received were not marked as classified, Clinton should have known they were because they contained original communications intercepts and satellite images. On August 13, Fox senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano claimed “the new information is that the top secret email was satellite views of a foreign country” and Fox correspondent Peter Doocy alleged the emails “contained satellite imagery and signal intelligence.” [Media Matters, 8/14/15]