Ouch.
The intelligence community is standing by its conclusion that two emails sent to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton contained information classified "Top Secret" at the time it was sent, but is acknowledging that one of those messages can now be treated at a lower classification level, a U.S. official said Tuesday.
Read more: www.politico.com/...
Bernstein, the writer of the earlier story that the IC had agreed with State that two of the four disputed emails were not TS, has had to eat his words. There was a quite jubilant diary here on DK where the earlier story was celebrated. I’m a Hillary skeptic, especially on the email and her mishandling of classified documents, but even I had to acknowledge that if the story was correct it was a huge success and victory for Hillary. For example, here’s what I said at the time:
A: wanted to reply directly to you....
Just read the article, and it's unclear to me if it refers to the two DoS originated emails or the two other agency emails. Can you figure out which it is?
And, if it's the CIA/NGA originated emails....it's a huge victory for you. You do deserve the victory lap. The other 600+ classified emails lose a huge chunk of their impact if all the TS SCI's have been removed. Kudos, sincerely.
This diary really isn’t for those that completely misunderstand the story (especially the “but it wasn’t marked!” apologists) but more for those who were part of pretty interesting discussions between people who disagreed on the key facts of the story, not the misconceptions. IC IG originally said four were TS SCI. Two originated in DoS, two from the larger IC. I always felt Hillary was in ok shape on the State originated emails, because of the OCA and the way originating (and declassification) authority works. But, as I mentioned above, losing the CIA/NGA emails cut me off at the knees. I mentioned the 600+ Confidential emails (3 SECRET emails, for you nitpickers), which is now a ridiculously high 999 and growing, but TS is the big kahuna. It seems the big kahuna is alive and well, with off-shore breezes .
My question: if the victory lap seemed deserved before, as the TS emails were stripped from the story….do people who exulted at that news (not me), and acknowledged its importance (me), now recognize that this reversal is a big fucking deal? There is quantity and there is quality. 999 classified emails on an unclassified server meets even the skeptics definition of quantity, but it’s mostly reasonable to argue that Confidential FGI is technically classified, but usually so inconsequential that not much was at risk. TOP SECRET, now back in the discussion, is all about quality. Hillary was sent, and received, TOP SECRET information on an unclassified server, despite her obligations to protect classified information and her specialized training as an OCA to recognize it. TOP SECRET at the time it was sent and received, not upgraded later. Do I get to do a victory lap? Will others congratulate me, and acknowledge their position as Hillary defenders has been substantially weakened? Indictments in the offing? Privilege, because the rules don’t apply to Hillary and staff?
Or will I just get the usual flags?
And my first diary on DK5, and can’t seem to find the old preview button, so I have no idea how this looks. When I hit publish, I hope it’s readable.