State Department audit faults Clinton on emails, says she broke records rules
The forthcoming audit, a copy of which was obtained by FoxNews.com, faults Clinton and her predecessors for poorly managing email and other computer information.
The report says the department and its secretaries were "slow to recognize and to manage effectively the legal requirements and cybersecurity risks associated with electronic data communications." It cites "longstanding, systemic weaknesses" related to communications that started before Clinton's appointment as secretary of state.
But the report singles out Clinton’s failures as more serious.
It specifically accuses her of violating department policy by not giving over emails when she left office.
The report says: "Secretary Clinton should have preserved any Federal records she created and received on her personal account by printing and filing those records with the related files in the Office of the Secretary. At a minimum, Secretary Clinton should have surrendered all emails dealing with Department business before leaving government service and, because she did not do so, she did not comply with the Department's policies that were implemented in accordance with the Federal Records Act."
The report said while there were many examples of staff using personal accounts for official business, they could only find three cases where officials used non-department accounts “on an exclusive basis for day-to-day operations”: former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former Ambassador to Kenya Jonathan Scott Gration and Clinton.
In the case of Gration, the department initiated disciplinary action against him, though he resigned before that materialized. The IG report said of Gration, “the Department’s response to his actions demonstrates how such usage is normally handled when Department cybersecurity officials become aware of it.”
The report noted that by the time Clinton took the helm of the department, internal guidance was “considerably more detailed and more sophisticated.”
Yet, the report said, “Secretary Clinton used mobile devices to conduct official business using the personal email account on her private server extensively, as illustrated by the 55,000 pages of material making up the approximately 30,000 emails she provided to the Department in December 2014.” The report said investigators found “no evidence that the Secretary requested or obtained guidance or approval to conduct official business via a personal email account on her private server.”
While some officials said they were unaware of the extent of Clinton’s personal email use, the report said they found evidence “that various staff and senior officials throughout the Department had discussions related to the Secretary’s use of non-Departmental systems, suggesting there was some awareness of Secretary Clinton’s practices.”
The review came after revelations Clinton exclusively used a private email account and server while in office. Clinton is now the likely Democratic presidential nominee.
The audit comes as the FBI is thought to be nearing the final phases of its own investigation into Clinton’s email use as secretary of state.
State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the agency is "already working" to improve its email and records management system.
Toner said "it is clear that the department could have done a better job preserving emails and records of secretaries of state and their senior staff going back several administrations." He said the State Department also agrees that compliance with its rules has been "inconsistent across several administrations."
On another front, Romanian hacker Guccifer – who recently claimed he breached Clinton’s server – pleaded guilty in federal court on Wednesday to separate hacking charges.
Under a deal struck with the federal government, he has agreed to cooperate with federal authorities in the future. The plea agreement does not mention the FBI investigation of Clinton's email practices or his claims that he accessed her private server in March 2013. Such agreements typically do not stipulate how a defendant will aid the government.
Fox News’ Chad Pergram and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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