7 unanswered questions about Clinton’s emails

At least 400 emails that Hillary Clinton sent or received through her private computer server while secretary of state contained classified material, according to the State Department’s latest update Wednesday from its ongoing review of more than 30,000 emails.

In response to a public records lawsuit, the department released another 6,300 pages of the Democratic presidential candidate’s emails after partially or entirely redacting any containing sensitive U.S. or foreign government information on a range of issues.

None was marked as classified during Clinton’s tenure, department officials say, but intelligence officials say some material was clearly classified at the time. Clinton has insisted she did not send or receive any information marked as classified.

But amid a furor over her unusual decision to route her emails through a server in her home in Chappaqua, N.Y., for her entire term, questions persist. Here are seven:

1. Did anyone approve of her email setup?

Clinton has said State Department employees were permitted to use personal email accounts when she took office, and she “fully complied” with every applicable rule. But State Department and White House officials have declined to say whether she sought or received prior approval from anyone or whether anyone objected to it later.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest has said that federal employees have been given “guidance” to use government email accounts for business.

Regulations discourage the use of personal email. But the National Archives permits the use of personal email for government business, so long as all records are retained.

2. Why didn’t Clinton turn over her emails when she left office in 2013?

Clinton has said that most of her emails already had been collected by the State Department, because she sent them to and received them from government addresses.

But dozens of other people, including lobbyists for foreign governments, emailed her directly, and Clinton has not explained how she thought the State Department would have collected those emails.

It wasn’t until the State Department asked former secretaries to turn over their emails in late 2015 — nearly two years after Clinton left office — that she surrendered hers. The National Archives only recently instituted a 20-day timetable for former employees to turn over such records.

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