Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton speaks during a fundraiser at the Paramount Theater October 14, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. / AFP / Brendan Smialowski (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)
Brendan Smialowski / AFP / Getty Images
Undersecretary of State Patrick Kennedy asked the FBI to change the classification on at least one email from Hillary Clinton's private account in exchange for a favor from the State Department, according to an FBI employee quoted in newly released documents.
"[REDACTED] believes STATE has an agenda which involves minimizing the classified nature of the Clinton emails in order to protect STATE interests and those of CLINTON," reads a transcript of an FBI interview with the employee dated July 30, 2015 that was released by the FBI on Monday.
The employee, who works at the FBI's records management division in Winchester, Virginia, told FBI agents that about six weeks prior to the interview, he received an email from the State Department's freedom of information office. The email contained "5 email communications" from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's private account, "which STATE believed may contain 'FBI equities'."
The freedom of information office wanted the FBI to review the classification of the emails, marked unclassified at the time, before releasing them to the public.
The employee said at least one of the emails looked to be classified and sent it to the FBI's counterterrorism team for review.
It appears — though sections of the interview transcript were redacted — that the FBI changed the classification of the email from unclassified to "SECRET//NOFORN."
The FBI employee said the State Department's legal office contacted him a week later "and questioned the FBI's SECRET/NOFORN determination," arguing that the FBI couldn't use that type of classification.
The caller further argued that the State Department, "not the FBI, are the judge of potential harm to foreign governments and therefore the FBI did not have the right to classify a document based on those conditions."
The email, however, appears to have remained classified at the level determined by the FBI. The employee told interviewers he "firmly believed, based on his position as an Original Classification Authority (OCA), that the email was classified properly and accurately."
"Shortly thereafter, [REDACTED] received a call from [REDACTED] of the International Operations Division (IOD) of the FBI, who 'pressured' him to change the classified email to unclassified," the transcript reads. "[REDACTED] indicated he had been contacted by PATRICK KENNEDY, Undersecretary of State, who had asked his assistance in altering the email's classification in exchange for a 'quid pro quo.'"
"[REDACTED] advised that, in exchange for marking the email unclassified, STATE would reciprocate by allowing the FBI to place more Agents in countries where they are presently forbidden."
This exchange was followed by an all-agency meeting held by Kennedy at the State Department, the employee said, where someone asked whether any of the Clinton emails were classified.
"Well, we'll see," Kennedy said, making eye contact with the FBI employee, according to the transcript.
"[REDACTED] believed this was reference to the FBI's categorization of the SECRET//NOFORN email which Kennedy was attempting to influence," the transcript says.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates and follow BuzzFeed News on Twitter.
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