U.S. government officials are denying that any deal was proposed between the State Department and the FBI on changing the classification of a Hillary Clinton e-mail in exchange for allowing more of the bureau's agents to be posted overseas.
“We dispute the assertion that there was any kind of quid pro quo involving the case of upgrading an e-mail in exchange for additional slots for FBI officials in Baghdad,” said deputy spokesman Mark Toner.
During intense questioning by reporters at the department's daily briefing Monday, Toner called any insinuation of a proposed deal “insulting.”
According to summaries of interviews with FBI officials released earlier in the day, a bureau official told investigators that Undersecretary of State Patrick Kennedy pressured the FBI to declassify information in one of the emails from the private server of Clinton from the time she served as secretary of state.
Downgrading the email's classification level for archiving would have allowed it – as Kennedy is quoted as saying -- “never to be seen again.” The particular email related to the 2012 attack on a U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya. Four Americans died in the siege, including then-Ambassador Christopher Stevens. Since the incident, conservative critics of Clinton have fiercely attacked her for allegedly ignoring security warnings and engaging in a cover-up.
Her main opponent, Republic Party nominee Donald Trump, on the social media platform Twitter Monday, characterized the newly released documents as “unbelievable” and evidence of “corruption confirmed.”