Below you'll find a list of all posts from April, 2011
April and May 2011: Clinton and her top aides are warned again to minimize the use of personal emails for business due to hacker attacks.
In March 2011, State Department security officials warned Clinton and other senior officials that there was a "dramatic increase" in hacker attacks specifically targeting senior US officials. It concluded, "We urge department users to minimize the use of personal web email for business."
This is followed by a cybersecurity briefing in April 2011 and then another one in May. Clinton's immediate staff and other top officials attend the briefings, but it is not clear if Clinton herself does. However, after Clinton ends her term in 2013, a copy of a classified presentation used during one of the briefings will be found in her papers. It contains warnings similar to the March 2011 warning. (US Department of State, 5/25/2016)
briefingClinton aidescybersecurityhacking attemptHillary Clinton
April 3, 2011: Clinton's comments about a Libyan defector will later be deemed "secret."
Moussa Koussa (Credit: PA)
Clinton aide Jake Sullivan sends Clinton a forward of a Reuters article explaining how former Libyan foreign minister Moussa Koussa has just defected to Britain and will be talking to British intelligence. The article will not be redacted later, but all of the extensive comments by Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns will be. Then Clinton adds three lines of commentary that also will be totally redacted. Her email will later be deemed "secret," which is the middle level of classification. (US Department of State, 2/29/2016)
Britainclassified informationHillary ClintonJake SullivanLibyaMoussa Koussasecret level emailsWilliam Burns
April 5, 2011: Clinton forwards Blumenthal's unvetted intelligence to the White House after removing his name.
Clinton at a Libya conference in London, Britain, on March 29, 2011. (Credit: WPA Pool / Getty Images)
Even though Blumenthal is a private citizen with no security clearance, Clinton asks her aide Jake Sullivan, "This is informative. Should we pass on (unidentified) to WH / or other agencies?" ("WH" stands for "White House.")
Sullivan replies, "Yes, I will do so. Very interesting."
Politico will later note that Clinton referred to Blumenthal as "(unidentified)" because "The White House barred Clinton from bringing Blumenthal to [The State Department] because of sharp words he used to attack Obama during the 2008 primary." (Politico, 2/29/2016)
Hillary ClintonJake SullivanSid Blumenthalspecific emailWhite House
April 7, 2011: Clinton likes Blumenthal's suggestion to use a private company to train the Libyan rebels.
Clinton confidant Sid Blumenthal emails Clinton that Libyan rebel "military leaders are considering the possibility of hiring private security firms to help train and organize their forces." Clinton forwards the email to her aide Jake Sullivan and comments that the "idea of using private security experts to arm the opposition should be considered." (Note that Clinton's comment will be released by the House Benghazi Committee in October 2015, but when the State Department releases the email in January 2016, it will be redacted. (House Benghazi Committee, 10/7/2015) (US Department of State, 1/7/2016)
On July 14, 2011, Blumenthal will email Clinton with a proposal for the rebels to hire a private security company that he's invested in.
Hillary ClintonJake SullivanLibyapossible conflict of interestSid BlumenthalState Department
April 10, 2011: An email to Clinton mentions the name of a secret Defense Department official.
Clinton aide Jake Sullivan sends Clinton a three-page email that will later be entirely redacted except for one line that appears to summarize the contents: "Sharpening the Aims and Execution of the Coalition Mission in Libya."
The sole line prior to this one will later be redacted according to a classification code indicating it reveals the name of a secret official working for the Defense Department. Clinton apparently does not send a reply. (US Department of State, 2/29/2016)
14 June 2016 addendaclassified emailsDepartment of Defense (DoD)emailsHillary ClintonJake Sullivanpossible revelation of secret identitiesspecific email
April 10, 2011: An email forwarded to Clinton appears to contain the most recent US military intelligence, which should have been classified.
US Ambassador Christopher Stevens. He dies from smoke asphyxiation on September 11, 2012, due to a terrorist attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. (Credit: Reuters)
The email discusses the current security situation in Libya. It says that due to violence in the town of Ajdabiyah, US Special Envoy Christopher Stevens "is considering departure from Benghazi." It also discusses Stevens' concerns about departing and it details the "phased checkout" of Stevens' staff from the area, possibly in a few hours. Additionally, it contains the latest secret intelligence from AFRICOM (US Africa Command, the US military in Africa), detailing nearby troop movements in the Libyan civil war that could threaten Stevens and his staff. Tim Davis, a special assistant to Clinton, writes the email and then sends it to Clinton aide Huma Abedin, who forwards it to Clinton. Davis marks it "SBU," which means "sensitive but unclassified." The email will be released to the public in full on May 13, 2015.
However, the State Department's inspector general will later conclude that the email should not have been made public without redactions. Furthermore, in August 2015, an unnamed government official familiar with the investigation into Clinton's emails will tell CBS News that at least the part of the email containing current military intelligence should have been marked classified at the time. Additionally, because that information originated from the military, the State Department did not have the right to declassify it at the time it was sent or later. The unnamed official will say that this kind of mistake is not unusual for State Department officials when they discuss information from multiple sources, but the difference is that this email is stored on Clinton's private server, which can be easily hacked or monitored. (CBS News, 8/19/2015) (US Department of State, 5/13/2015)
In 2015, Fox News will claim that the email contained intelligence from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the National Security Agency (NSA), and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), which oversees satellite imagery. Furthermore, "all three agencies confirmed to the intelligence community inspector general that the intelligence was classified when it was sent four years ago by Abedin to Clinton's private account, and remains classified to this day." (Fox News, 8/26/2015) Even though the email will be made public in full in May 2015, it will be reclassified as "secret" in September 2015. "Secret" is the medium level of classification, below "top secret." (The New York Times, 9/30/2015)
AFRICOMBenghazi (Libya)Christopher Stevensclassified informationHillary ClintonHuma Abedininspector generalintelligenceLibyaNational Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA)National Security Agency (NSA)secret level emailssensitive but unclassified (SBU)State DepartmentTim Davis
April 26, 2011: An email forwarded to Clinton includes the name and email address of a secret CIA official who might be in Libya.
Christina Tomlinson (Credit: Linked In)
State Department official Christina Tomlinson writes an email about a recent traffic accident involving US Special Envoy Christopher Stephens in Libya that killed four Libyan civilians. The email is sent to over 20 other US officials; most of them appear to have jobs related to the US military effort in the on-going Libyan civil war. The name and email address of one recipient will later be redacted due to that person being a secret CIA official. Clinton's chief of staff Cheryl Mills forwards the email to Clinton. (US Department of State, 1/7/2016)
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)Cheryl MillsChristina TomlinsonChristopher Stephensclassified informationHillary ClintonLibyapossible revelation of secret identities