Clinton emails note vulnerability

WASHINGTON -- Hillary Rodham Clinton and her aides at the State Department were acutely aware of the need to protect sensitive information when discussing international affairs over email and other forms of unsecure electronic communication, according to the latest batch of messages released by the agency from Clinton's tenure as secretary of state.

The State Department made public about 7,121 pages of Clinton's emails late Monday night, including 125 emails that were censored before their release because they contain information now deemed classified. The vast majority concerned phone messages, relays of schedules and forwards of news articles.

But in a few of the emails, Clinton and her aides noted the constraints of discussing sensitive subjects when working outside the government's secure messaging systems -- and the need to protect such information.

In an exchange from Feb. 6, 2010, Clinton asks aide Huma Abedin for talking points for a call she's about to have with the newly appointed foreign minister of Ecuador. "You are congratulating him on becoming foreign minister, and purpose is to establish a personal relationship with him," Abedin replied. "Trying to get u call sheet, its classified."

In another email from January 2010, Clinton aide Cheryl Mills responds angrily to a New York Times story based on leaked classified cables sent by Karl Eikenberry, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan. "The leaking of classified material is a breach not only of trust, it is also a breach of the law," Mills wrote.

Clinton also expressed frustration with the State Department's treatment of certain ordinary documents as classified. After an aide noted the draft of innocuous remarks about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was on the State Department's classified messaging system, she responded, "It's a public statement! Just email it."

Sent a moment later, the statement merely said that U.S. and British officials would work together to promote peace. "Well that is certainly worthy of being top secret," Clinton responded sarcastically.

All those email conversations with Clinton took place via her private email account. Clinton has since said that her decision to use a personal email account to conduct government business was a mistake.

Clinton's emails included many from Sidney Blumenthal, a longtime confidant and former White House official who passed along news articles, inside information, political gossip, election polls, and geopolitical advice and speculation.

Of the emails and documents that were posted on the State Department website Monday, a search found that 306 involved messages from Blumenthal to Clinton or vice versa.

Clinton was usually terse and revealed little in reply, but she indicated that she and former President Bill Clinton welcomed his input outside the normal chain of command.

"I shared your emails w Bill who thought they were 'brilliant'!" she wrote after a series of messages about elections in Britain. "Keep 'em coming when you can."

The emails, along with previous batches disclosed by the State Department, shed light on a relationship that has already drawn scrutiny from Republicans in Congress investigating the terrorist attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012.

While not a State Department employee, Blumenthal was being paid by Bill Clinton's foundation as well as by advocacy organizations that have advanced Hillary Clinton's political interests.

Information for this article was contributed by Lisa Lerer, Matthew Lee and staff members of The Associated Press; and by Peter Baker of The New York Times.

A Section on 09/02/2015