Thanks for update Nick

Brian -- I will call you on this.  Recommend removing section re Sid not being a federal employee. 

On Jun 24, 2015, at 2:32 PM, Nick Merrill <nmerrill@hillaryclinton.com> wrote:

Just spoke to State a little more about this.  A few updates.

1. The plan at the moment is for them to do this tomorrow, first thing in the morning.

2. What that means specifically is that they are going to turn over all the Blumenthal emails to the Committee that they hav along with some other HRC emails that include a slightly broader set of search terms than the original batch.  That of course includes the emails Sid turned over that HRC didn't, which will make clear to them that she didn't have them in the first place, deleted them, or didn't turn them over.  It also includes emails that HRC had that Sid didn't, as Brian noted.

3. They do not plan to release anything publicly, so no posting online or anything public-facing, just to the committee.  That said, they are considering placing a story with a friendly at the AP (Matt Lee or Bradley Klapper), that would lay this out before the majority on the committee has a chance to realize what they have and distort it.

On that last piece, we think it would make sense to work with State and the AP to deploy the below.  So assuming everyone is in agreement we'll proceed.  It would be good to frame this a little, and frankly to have it break tomorrow when we'll likely be close to or in the midst of a SCOTUS decision taking over the news hyenas.

Will keep everyone posted if anything changes, including the timing.

Nick

On Wed, Jun 24, 2015 at 12:30 PM, Brian Fallon <bfallon@hillaryclinton.com> wrote:

All - In preparation for the possibility that the State Department may acknowledge as soon as today that there were 16 Sid emails missing from the 55k pages of material produced by HRC, I wanted to circulate the below draft plan for responding to the inquiries that Nick will get. Thanks.

Q: The State Department says that at least 16 of the emails that Sid Blumenthal turned over to the Benghazi Select Committee were not included in the 55,000 pages of materials produced by Hillary Clinton. Doesn't this prove that Hillary Clinton deleted certain emails at some point before producing them to the Department?

ON-THE-RECORD RESPONSE FROM SPOKESMAN NICK MERRILL:

"Hillary Clinton has turned over 55,000 pages of materials to the State Department, including all emails in her possession from Mr. Blumenthal."

ADDITIONAL POINTS ON BACKGROUND FROM CLINTON AIDE:

Not only did Clinton turn over all emails that she has from Blumenthal, she actually turned over more than a dozen emails that were not included in what Mr. Blumenthal handed over to the House committee.

We do not have a record of other correspondence between Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Blumenthal beyond that which was turned over to the State Department. In terms of the documents provided by Mr. Blumenthal to the House committee, we do not recognize many of those materials and cannot speak to their origin. 

OFF RECORD, if pressed on whether we are essentially admitting the possibility that she deleted some emails:

Look, we do not know what these materials are, or where they came from. Just take a look at them: many of the documents are not even formatted as emails. 

For all we know, it could be that, in the course of reproducing his emails after his account was hacked, Sid misremembered which memos he actually forwarded to her and which he did not. 

And hey, even if Sid is right and some of these documents were at some point sent to Clinton, this is unremarkable anyway for two key reasons:

One, she would have been under no obligation to preserve them since Blumenthal wasn't a government employee.

 

Two, there is nothing in any of these emails that is remotely new or interesting. Indeed, none of these 16 emails are qualtitatively different than the dozens of others that Hillary already produced to the State Department. So it is completely ridiculous to suggest that there might have been any nefarious basis for her to want to delete any of Sid's correspondence.

I think the point can be made via noting that Sid was not a federal employee as needed (which as FYI means his emails only b/came federal records if used in the course of Dept business - so some were if forwarded and acted on and some weren't if nothing was done with them). But not sure it is worth the technical debate. 

So in your if pushed, you could say:

With regard to his materials, remember, Sid was never a federal employee. We do not know what these materials are, or where they came from. Just take a look at them: many of the documents are not even formatted as emails. 

But even if Sid is right and some of these documents were at some point sent to Clinton, there is nothing in any of these emails that is remotely new or interesting. Indeed, none of these 16 emails are qualitatively different than the dozens of others that Hillary already produced to the State Department. So it is completely ridiculous to suggest that there might have been any nefarious basis for her to want to delete any of Sid's correspondence.

cdm

On Jun 25, 2015, at 7:56 AM, Heather Samuelson <hsamuelson@cdmillsGroup.com> wrote:

I defer to CDM and David on if/how we want to address this. 

There was concern re prior language that I relayed to Brian and Nick. 

On Jun 25, 2015, at 12:12 AM, Jennifer Palmieri <jpalmieri@hillaryclinton.com> wrote:

Shouldn't we also add somewhere that Sid was not s government employee and these aren't federal records?  

Heather -State would not consider these records, correct? 

Sent from my iPhone

On Jun 24, 2015, at 10:40 PM, Brian Fallon <bfallon@hillaryclinton.com> wrote:

Based on conversations today, below is the finalized version of the response plan:

Q: The State Department says that at least 16 of the emails that Sid Blumenthal turned over to the Benghazi Select Committee were not included in the 55,000 pages of materials produced by Hillary Clinton. Doesn't this prove that Hillary Clinton deleted certain emails at some point before producing them to the Department?

ON-THE-RECORD RESPONSE FROM SPOKESMAN NICK MERRILL:

"Hillary Clinton has turned over 55,000 pages of materials to the State Department, including all emails in her possession from Mr. Blumenthal."

ADDITIONAL POINTS ON BACKGROUND FROM CLINTON AIDE:

Not only did Clinton turn over all emails that she has from Blumenthal, she actually turned over more than a dozen emails that were not included in what Mr. Blumenthal handed over to the House committee.

We do not have a record of other correspondence between Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Blumenthal beyond that which was turned over to the State Department. In terms of the documents provided by Mr. Blumenthal to the House committee, we do not recognize many of those materials and cannot speak to their origin. 

OFF RECORD, if pressed on whether we are essentially admitting the possibility that she deleted some emails:

Look, we do not know what these materials are, or where they came from. Just take a look at them: many of the documents are not even formatted as emails. 

But even if Sid is right and some of these documents were at some point sent to Clinton, there is nothing in any of these emails that is remotely new or interesting. Indeed, none of these 16 emails are qualitatively different than the dozens of others that Hillary already produced to the State Department. So it is completely ridiculous to suggest that there might have been any nefarious basis for her to want to delete any of Sid's correspondence.

On Wed, Jun 24, 2015 at 4:07 PM, Heather Samuelson <hsamuelson@cdmillsgroup.com> wrote:

Thanks for update Nick

Brian -- I will call you on this.  Recommend removing section re Sid not being a federal employee. 

On Jun 24, 2015, at 2:32 PM, Nick Merrill <nmerrill@hillaryclinton.com> wrote:

Just spoke to State a little more about this.  A few updates.

1. The plan at the moment is for them to do this tomorrow, first thing in the morning.

2. What that means specifically is that they are going to turn over all the Blumenthal emails to the Committee that they hav along with some other HRC emails that include a slightly broader set of search terms than the original batch.  That of course includes the emails Sid turned over that HRC didn't, which will make clear to them that she didn't have them in the first place, deleted them, or didn't turn them over.  It also includes emails that HRC had that Sid didn't, as Brian noted.

3. They do not plan to release anything publicly, so no posting online or anything public-facing, just to the committee.  That said, they are considering placing a story with a friendly at the AP (Matt Lee or Bradley Klapper), that would lay this out before the majority on the committee has a chance to realize what they have and distort it.

On that last piece, we think it would make sense to work with State and the AP to deploy the below.  So assuming everyone is in agreement we'll proceed.  It would be good to frame this a little, and frankly to have it break tomorrow when we'll likely be close to or in the midst of a SCOTUS decision taking over the news hyenas.

Will keep everyone posted if anything changes, including the timing.

Nick

On Wed, Jun 24, 2015 at 12:30 PM, Brian Fallon <bfallon@hillaryclinton.com> wrote:

All - In preparation for the possibility that the State Department may acknowledge as soon as today that there were 16 Sid emails missing from the 55k pages of material produced by HRC, I wanted to circulate the below draft plan for responding to the inquiries that Nick will get. Thanks.

Q: The State Department says that at least 16 of the emails that Sid Blumenthal turned over to the Benghazi Select Committee were not included in the 55,000 pages of materials produced by Hillary Clinton. Doesn't this prove that Hillary Clinton deleted certain emails at some point before producing them to the Department?

ON-THE-RECORD RESPONSE FROM SPOKESMAN NICK MERRILL:

"Hillary Clinton has turned over 55,000 pages of materials to the State Department, including all emails in her possession from Mr. Blumenthal."

ADDITIONAL POINTS ON BACKGROUND FROM CLINTON AIDE:

Not only did Clinton turn over all emails that she has from Blumenthal, she actually turned over more than a dozen emails that were not included in what Mr. Blumenthal handed over to the House committee.

We do not have a record of other correspondence between Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Blumenthal beyond that which was turned over to the State Department. In terms of the documents provided by Mr. Blumenthal to the House committee, we do not recognize many of those materials and cannot speak to their origin. 

OFF RECORD, if pressed on whether we are essentially admitting the possibility that she deleted some emails:

Look, we do not know what these materials are, or where they came from. Just take a look at them: many of the documents are not even formatted as emails. 

For all we know, it could be that, in the course of reproducing his emails after his account was hacked, Sid misremembered which memos he actually forwarded to her and which he did not. 

And hey, even if Sid is right and some of these documents were at some point sent to Clinton, this is unremarkable anyway for two key reasons:

One, she would have been under no obligation to preserve them since Blumenthal wasn't a government employee.

 

Two, there is nothing in any of these emails that is remotely new or interesting. Indeed, none of these 16 emails are qualtitatively different than the dozens of others that Hillary already produced to the State Department. So it is completely ridiculous to suggest that there might have been any nefarious basis for her to want to delete any of Sid's correspondence.

Got it.

I'm waiting for a callback from State, but plan is still to lay this our for a reporter with them and for them to turn over the documents later this morning.

On Thu, Jun 25, 2015 at 9:33 AM, Cheryl Mills <cheryl.mills@gmail.com> wrote:

I think the point can be made via noting that Sid was not a federal employee as needed (which as FYI means his emails only b/came federal records if used in the course of Dept business - so some were if forwarded and acted on and some weren't if nothing was done with them). But not sure it is worth the technical debate. 

So in your if pushed, you could say:

With regard to his materials, remember, Sid was never a federal employee. We do not know what these materials are, or where they came from. Just take a look at them: many of the documents are not even formatted as emails. 

But even if Sid is right and some of these documents were at some point sent to Clinton, there is nothing in any of these emails that is remotely new or interesting. Indeed, none of these 16 emails are qualitatively different than the dozens of others that Hillary already produced to the State Department. So it is completely ridiculous to suggest that there might have been any nefarious basis for her to want to delete any of Sid's correspondence.

cdm

On Jun 25, 2015, at 7:56 AM, Heather Samuelson <hsamuelson@cdmillsGroup.com> wrote:

I defer to CDM and David on if/how we want to address this. 

There was concern re prior language that I relayed to Brian and Nick. 

On Jun 25, 2015, at 12:12 AM, Jennifer Palmieri <jpalmieri@hillaryclinton.com> wrote:

Shouldn't we also add somewhere that Sid was not s government employee and these aren't federal records?  

Heather -State would not consider these records, correct? 

Sent from my iPhone

On Jun 24, 2015, at 10:40 PM, Brian Fallon <bfallon@hillaryclinton.com> wrote:

Based on conversations today, below is the finalized version of the response plan:

Q: The State Department says that at least 16 of the emails that Sid Blumenthal turned over to the Benghazi Select Committee were not included in the 55,000 pages of materials produced by Hillary Clinton. Doesn't this prove that Hillary Clinton deleted certain emails at some point before producing them to the Department?

ON-THE-RECORD RESPONSE FROM SPOKESMAN NICK MERRILL:

"Hillary Clinton has turned over 55,000 pages of materials to the State Department, including all emails in her possession from Mr. Blumenthal."

ADDITIONAL POINTS ON BACKGROUND FROM CLINTON AIDE:

Not only did Clinton turn over all emails that she has from Blumenthal, she actually turned over more than a dozen emails that were not included in what Mr. Blumenthal handed over to the House committee.

We do not have a record of other correspondence between Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Blumenthal beyond that which was turned over to the State Department. In terms of the documents provided by Mr. Blumenthal to the House committee, we do not recognize many of those materials and cannot speak to their origin. 

OFF RECORD, if pressed on whether we are essentially admitting the possibility that she deleted some emails:

Look, we do not know what these materials are, or where they came from. Just take a look at them: many of the documents are not even formatted as emails. 

But even if Sid is right and some of these documents were at some point sent to Clinton, there is nothing in any of these emails that is remotely new or interesting. Indeed, none of these 16 emails are qualitatively different than the dozens of others that Hillary already produced to the State Department. So it is completely ridiculous to suggest that there might have been any nefarious basis for her to want to delete any of Sid's correspondence.

On Wed, Jun 24, 2015 at 4:07 PM, Heather Samuelson <hsamuelson@cdmillsgroup.com> wrote:

Thanks for update Nick

Brian -- I will call you on this.  Recommend removing section re Sid not being a federal employee. 

On Jun 24, 2015, at 2:32 PM, Nick Merrill <nmerrill@hillaryclinton.com> wrote:

Just spoke to State a little more about this.  A few updates.

1. The plan at the moment is for them to do this tomorrow, first thing in the morning.

2. What that means specifically is that they are going to turn over all the Blumenthal emails to the Committee that they hav along with some other HRC emails that include a slightly broader set of search terms than the original batch.  That of course includes the emails Sid turned over that HRC didn't, which will make clear to them that she didn't have them in the first place, deleted them, or didn't turn them over.  It also includes emails that HRC had that Sid didn't, as Brian noted.

3. They do not plan to release anything publicly, so no posting online or anything public-facing, just to the committee.  That said, they are considering placing a story with a friendly at the AP (Matt Lee or Bradley Klapper), that would lay this out before the majority on the committee has a chance to realize what they have and distort it.

On that last piece, we think it would make sense to work with State and the AP to deploy the below.  So assuming everyone is in agreement we'll proceed.  It would be good to frame this a little, and frankly to have it break tomorrow when we'll likely be close to or in the midst of a SCOTUS decision taking over the news hyenas.

Will keep everyone posted if anything changes, including the timing.

Nick

On Wed, Jun 24, 2015 at 12:30 PM, Brian Fallon <bfallon@hillaryclinton.com> wrote:

All - In preparation for the possibility that the State Department may acknowledge as soon as today that there were 16 Sid emails missing from the 55k pages of material produced by HRC, I wanted to circulate the below draft plan for responding to the inquiries that Nick will get. Thanks.

Q: The State Department says that at least 16 of the emails that Sid Blumenthal turned over to the Benghazi Select Committee were not included in the 55,000 pages of materials produced by Hillary Clinton. Doesn't this prove that Hillary Clinton deleted certain emails at some point before producing them to the Department?

ON-THE-RECORD RESPONSE FROM SPOKESMAN NICK MERRILL:

"Hillary Clinton has turned over 55,000 pages of materials to the State Department, including all emails in her possession from Mr. Blumenthal."

ADDITIONAL POINTS ON BACKGROUND FROM CLINTON AIDE:

Not only did Clinton turn over all emails that she has from Blumenthal, she actually turned over more than a dozen emails that were not included in what Mr. Blumenthal handed over to the House committee.

We do not have a record of other correspondence between Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Blumenthal beyond that which was turned over to the State Department. In terms of the documents provided by Mr. Blumenthal to the House committee, we do not recognize many of those materials and cannot speak to their origin. 

OFF RECORD, if pressed on whether we are essentially admitting the possibility that she deleted some emails:

Look, we do not know what these materials are, or where they came from. Just take a look at them: many of the documents are not even formatted as emails. 

For all we know, it could be that, in the course of reproducing his emails after his account was hacked, Sid misremembered which memos he actually forwarded to her and which he did not. 

And hey, even if Sid is right and some of these documents were at some point sent to Clinton, this is unremarkable anyway for two key reasons:

One, she would have been under no obligation to preserve them since Blumenthal wasn't a government employee.

 

Two, there is nothing in any of these emails that is remotely new or interesting. Indeed, none of these 16 emails are qualtitatively different than the dozens of others that Hillary already produced to the State Department. So it is completely ridiculous to suggest that there might have been any nefarious basis for her to want to delete any of Sid's correspondence.

State Dept.: 15 emails missing from Clinton cache

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks during a campaign stop at Christ the King United Church of Christ, Tuesday, June 23, 2015, in Florissant, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

WASHINGTON (AP) - The State Department has been unable to find in its records all or part of 15 work-related emails from Hillary Rodham Clinton's private server that were released this week by a House panel investigating the 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya, officials said Thursday.

The emails all predate the Sept. 11 assault on the U.S. diplomatic facility and include scant words written by Clinton herself, the officials said. They consist of more in a series of would-be intelligence reports passed to her by longtime political confidant Sidney Blumenthal, the officials said.

Nevertheless, the fact that the State Department says it can't find them among emails she provided surely will raise new questions about Clinton's use of a personal email account and server while secretary of state and whether she has provided the agency all of her work-related correspondence, as she claims.

"She has turned over 55,000 pages of materials to the State Department, including all emails in her possession from Mr. Blumenthal," said Nick Merrill, a Clinton campaign spokesman, when asked about the discrepancy.

Clinton is running for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.

Clinton's use of the non-government email while in office was kept hidden from all but a small circle of aides, outside advisers, family members and friends. She says the single account for personal and professional purposes was a matter of convenience, and says all her work emails were included in the 55,000 pages of documents she later handed over to the State Department. Emails of a personal nature were destroyed, she says.

The State Department informed the Select Benghazi Committee on Thursday that they are no longer certain that's the case, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly on the matter. The officials said Julia Frifield, the assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs, confirmed that 10 emails and parts of five others that the committee made public Monday couldn't be located in the department's records.

As for 46 other, previously unreleased Libya-related Blumenthal emails published by the committee, officials said all are in the department's records. They weren't handed over to congressional investigators because they had no relevance to events in Benghazi and did not correspond to the committee's request, the officials said. The officials added that they are willing to provide emails outside the committee's initial request, but warned that doing so would require more time.

The emails missing from the State Department's records include missives from Blumenthal in which he sends media accounts about the killing of one of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi's sons, various reports on internal politics among Libya's rebels and news of the assassination of a former Gadhafi minister in Vienna. The last email was sent Aug. 28, 2012, two weeks before the Benghazi attack, and none focus particularly on the eastern Libyan city.

Clinton's responses are brief. In one from August 2011, she tells Blumenthal she will be in Paris the next day to meet rebel leaders and says she had "to resort to new iPad" because she didn't have electricity or Blackberry coverage after Hurricane Irene.

In another from March 2012, she passes on an adviser's skepticism regarding one of Blumenthal's reports about political intrigue in post-Gadhafi Libya, saying: "This strain credulity based on what I know. Any other info about it?"

And after a long August 2012 note from Blumenthal about Libya's new interim President Mohamed Yousef el-Magariaf, Clinton writes: "Another keeper - thanks and please keep 'em coming." Four days later, she responds to a follow-up reports about el-Magariaf, saying: "Fascinating. I had a very good call w him."

Clinton's critics are likely to focus less on the substance of the emails than on the fact that they weren't shared with the State Department.

Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, the Benghazi panel's Republican chairman, has pressed for an explanation of why Blumenthal gave the committee emails not previously shared by the State Department. The suggestion has been that either the department or Clinton was hiding something.

Clinton aides say her submission to the department included all emails from Blumenthal and a dozen more exchanges that weren't in the records he provided the House committee. They said some from Blumenthal's record, which was provided as a Microsoft Word document, couldn't be confirmed as having been sent as emails.

State Department officials also questioned the provenance of some exchanges because they weren't formatted as emails.