John Kerry Orders Email Preservation Review at State Department
— -- Secretary of State John Kerry sent a letter to the State Department’s Inspector General requesting a review of email and records management, the State Department said today.
The timing of Kerry’s request has many asking if this push for reform is connected to former Secretary Hillary Clinton’s recent scandal involving her use of a private email server, rather than a State Department account.
State Department Spokesman Jeff Rathke denied this had anything to do with Clinton, citing instead the State Department’s need to better manage the overwhelming number of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and requests for information from Congress.
But in his letter, Kerry mentions the need to “keep pace with changes in technology” and specifically mentions the use of personal email.
“We are also facing challenges regarding our integration of record keeping technologies and the use of non-government systems by some Department personnel to conduct official business,” Kerry wrote.
Clinton has admitted she only used a personal account when it came to conducting business over email.
Rathke insists that the Inspector General has been instructed to look at changes going forward and not at any specific cases, including Clinton’s.
Still, the letter goes on to ask the Inspector General a series of questions, many of which could apply directly to Clinton’s current dilemma.
For example, question number 1: "How are the changes in technology and the way the State Department personnel work challenging existing preservation and transparency technologies and policies, especially with respect to email?"
Clinton’s detractors say her exclusive use of private email resulted in her being the sole arbiter when determining which emails needed to be saved and which could be deleted.
And there’s question number 4: “How can the Department improve its tools and methods for complying with the FOIA and other requests to search for and produce documents from both current and former employees?"
After she left office the Select Committee investigating the Benghazi terror attacks requested all of Clinton’s emails relating to Benghazi and Libya during her tenure as Secretary and now claims it wants to see her private server to make sure she has complied.
Kerry is asking for an “expedited review" of these issues.
