Top secret information found in at least one of Hillary Clinton’s emails likely could have only come from the intelligence community and would have been tagged with the appropriate classification markings, a State Department official reportedly told Fox News.
The implications of the unnamed official’s assertion are significant as he said it’s possible that someone within Clinton’s “inner circle” may have illegally “tampered” with the message.
Earlier this week, the Intelligence Community’s Inspector General reportedly told Congress that it determined Clinton’s emails included highly classified information, including at least some information that should have been classified at level “TOP SECRET//SI//TK//NOFORN.”
"If so, they would have had to come in with all the appropriate classification markings," the official told Fox News, adding, "I can't imagine that a rank-and-file career DOS employee would have done this, so it was most likely done by someone in her inner circle."
According to the report, emails purportedly had information that "diplomats cannot unilaterally obtain," such as satellite imagery and signals intelligence.
If someone did strip the messages of their classifications in an attempt to shield Clinton, it would “constitute a felony,” the official added.
The Clinton campaign and the State Department have maintained that none of the emails recovered were "marked" classified at the time.
The FBI has taken possession of Clinton’s private server and thumb drives.
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