Clinton defends handling of classified information
Hillary Clinton defended her handling of classified information when asked by a veteran about it during NBC’s Commander-in-Chief Forum Wednesday night.
“As a naval flight officer, I had top secret clearance,” the veteran, John Lester, said. “Had I communicated this information not following prescribed protocols, I would have been prosecuted and imprisoned. Secretary Clinton, how can you expect those such as myself who were and are trusted with America’s most sensitive information to have any confidence in your leadership as president?”
Clinton said none of the emails she sent or received on her private email account were designated classified with a header that said “Secret” “Top Secret” or “Confidential.” (Some of the emails had the letter “C” in parenthesis on them, but Clinton told the FBI she did not think that meant they were confidential.)
“I communicated about classified material on a wholly separate system,” she said. “I took it very seriously.”
Matt Lauer, the forum’s moderator, pressed Clinton to explain why some of her emails were about drone strikes.
“There were no discussions of any of the covert actions in process being determined about whether or not to go forward,” Clinton said. Rather, the emails were about what Clinton or other officials should say if asked abroad about a drone strike that had already occurred and had been reported.
“I just respectfully point to the hundreds of experienced foreign policy experts, diplomats, defense officials who were communicating information on the unclassified system, because it was necessary to answer questions and to be able publicly to go as far as we could, which was not acknowledging the program,” Clinton said.
The former secretary of state also defended her vote for the Iraq War, calling it “my mistake” and vowing to never send ground troops into Iraq again. She asked voters to look at the “totality” of her record, mentioning her work for veterans in the Senate. Donald Trump, who spoke after Clinton, denied his earlier support for the Iraq War, claiming he had always been against it.
