Secretary of State John Kerry has asked his agency’s internal watchdog to examine how it handles its records and responds to requests for information following revelations about his predecessor’s use of a personal email account for government business.
“It is critical for the State Department to preserve a full and complete record of American foreign policy,” Kerry wrote to Inspector General Steve Linick. “It is also important for the American public to have access to that record. The Department of State is committed to these interrelated principles of preservation and transparency.”
State Department officials said Friday that the letter was not written to examine Clinton’s use of email but said the review could end up looking into the former secretary’s email.
The Obama administration has declined to explain much about Clinton’s use of a personal server and personal email account.
Clinton asked her attorneys to identify any work-related email produced during her four-year tenure as secretary of state. They turned over 30,490 emails to the State Department in response to a request from the agency.
She said many of her work-related emails were archived through other official accounts. But State Department officials said in recent weeks that email was not automatically archived during her tenure.