Hey, remember all of that cool media outcry over Valerie Plame?
On the heels of yesterday’s bombshell that Hillary Clinton’s secret email server contained nearly two-dozen emails with ‘TOP SECRET’ information, the State Department released its most heavily classified batch of emails to date. A few key points about last night’s dump:• Of the roughly 900 emails released, 243 were classified, bringing the total number of emails containing classified information to 1,583.
• Of the 243 classified emails, 11 were classified as SECERT, more than double the number from all of the previous releases combined.
• Of the 243 classified emails, 9 were classified for containing information related to “intelligence activities (including covert action), intelligence sources or methods, or cryptology.”
• Of the 243 classified emails, 128 were classified for containing “foreign government information,” which is considered “ born classified” and the “most important category of national security information” State Department officials encounter.
With a classification rate of nearly 27 percent, this was the most highly classified batch of emails yet, despite the fact the State Department only produced 10 percent of the emails it was required to under court order. And given the State Department’s claim that many of the emails they withheld were still being reviewed by other agencies as well as the steep increase in the number of emails classified as ‘SECRET,’ it appears Hillary Clinton’s email woes are only going to get worse. Indeed, many redactions in last night’s production had to do with information from several intelligence agencies including the CIA. No wonder Clinton’s friends in the State Department are trying to delay further releases until she’s cleared the early nominating contests.
Here are some of the most eye-popping emails from last night’s release below, which include classified conversations about embassy security in Egypt and a memo classified as ‘SECRET’ from John Kerry: