The same month, the AP reported that it obtained documents showing a hacker from Serbia was able to scan Clinton’s e-mail server in 2012.
In January, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the “odds are pretty high” that Clinton’s emails may have been hacked by either China, Iran, or Russia.
Sensitive E-Mail Among New Clinton Batch
One e-mail sent to Hillary Clinton’s private server was clearly marked “Sensitive Security Information,” a designation that allows information to be sent to private e-mail accounts only “under unique and urgent circumstances.”
Clinton has repeatedly stated that no information in her e-mails was marked classified at the time she sent or received the materials.
While this may be technically accurate in the case of the e-mail in question, this particular message was twice marked as sensitive – once in capital letters and once in bold. “SBU/SENSITIVE SECURITY INFORMATION (SSI),” read the email. “The information will be protected as SSI,” it stated further on.
In a third red flag regarding the sensitivity of the information, the author specifically demanded in bold lettering: “Please protect this information and limit distribution.”
The e-mail contained intelligence warning that “extremists may be considering surgically implanting explosives in humans and animals to conduct terrorist attacks” on domestic or foreign airlines.
SSI is not officially designated as classified under Executive Order 12958, which normally governs classified material. However, the Department of Homeland Security issued its own strict guidelines about sharing and storing SSI information.
Section 6(b) of the DHS guidelines specifically stipulates that SSI cannot be sent to private e-mail accounts except under “unique” and “urgent” circumstances.