According to a statement filed with a federal judge, intelligence officials assigned to review emails from Hillary Clinton’s private email account for classified information have as far as this point suggested that 305 files be referred to special investigators for advanced evaluation.
In court documents filed with U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras, the State Department revised its document total. It reported that as of last Friday, the Intelligence Community assessors had completed a groundwork screening and established that “out of a sample of approximately 20% of the Clinton emails,” the assessors have “recommended 305 documents — approximately 5.1% — for referral to their agencies for consultation.”
In the filed papers, the administration emphasized that the entire process uses assessors performing “a preliminary screenings step” and establishing whether an email should be taken back to a special agency for further evaluation.
Government legal advisors had said that after officers from the large U.S. intelligence community were included in the assessment procedure in July, the investigation expected to fall somewhat behind its initial timetable, but that it thought the slowdown was short-term.
After inspectors general for the intelligence community and the State Department expressed concern about the message of the email correspondences, the State Department allowed the intelligence personnel to lend a hand in the process.
The volume of email and the detailed nature of its content has made understanding its classification level difficult, requiring multiple agents in multiple agencies to perform the tedious task.
Jason Leopold, a member of the press who has brought a Freedom of Information lawsuit against the State Department, has shown concern that the administration has fallen back in its production agenda — ordered in May by U.S. District Court Judge Contreras – and provided no comprehensive arrangement on how it plans to catch up.
Leopold requested the Court to demand more detailed information mainly since it has expanded the assessment to include the additional intelligence personnel.
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