Skip to main content
Tags: Secretary of State Colin Powell | Hillary Clinton | Email | Server

Colin Powell Defends Himself Over Email Advice to Hillary

Colin Powell Defends Himself Over Email Advice to Hillary

(Getty Images/Paul Morigi)

Thursday, 08 September 2016 04:36 PM EDT

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell said he was not attempting to influence Hillary Clinton when he discussed sidestepping State Department regulations by using a private email server.

"I was not trying to influence her, but just to explain what I had done eight years earlier to begin the transformation of the State Department's information system," Powell said in a statement released Thursday.

"With respect to records, if I sent an email from my public email account to an addressee at another public email account, it would not have gone through State Department servers. It was a private conversation similar to a phone call.

"If I sent it to a state.gov address it should have been captured and retained by State servers. I was not aware at the time of any requirement for private, unclassified exchanges to be treated as official records."

Powell issued his defense of the practice after it was revealed Wednesday he sent Clinton a detailed email in 2009 on how he bypassed the State Department's security measures while using his own personal computer.

He also cautioned his incoming successor to "be very careful."

"I got around it all by not saying much and not using systems that captured the data," Powell, who served under George W. Bush, wrote in the email released Wednesday by Maryland Democrat Rep. Elijah Cummings.

Cummings said in a statement he released the email to show "Secretary Powell advised Secretary Clinton with a detailed blueprint on how to skirt security rules and bypass requirements to preserve federal records, although Secretary Clinton has made clear that she did not rely on this advice.

"This email exchange also illustrates the longstanding problem that no Secretary of State ever used an official unclassified email account until the current Secretary of State."

Clinton has been the subject of several investigations into her use of a private server for government business during her time as secretary of state. She was cleared by the FBI.

© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

Sign up for Newsmax’s Daily Newsletter

Receive breaking news and original analysis - sent right to your inbox.

(Optional for Local News)
Privacy: We never share your email address.

Newsfront
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell said he was not attempting to influence Hillary Clinton when he discussed sidestepping State Department regulations by using a private email server.
Secretary of State Colin Powell, Hillary Clinton, Email, Server
327
2016-36-08
Thursday, 08 September 2016 04:36 PM
Newsmax Media, Inc.
Join the Newsmax Community
Read and Post Comments
Please review Community Guidelines before posting a comment.
 

Interest-Based Advertising | Do not sell or share my personal information

Newsmax, Moneynews, Newsmax Health, and Independent. American. are registered trademarks of Newsmax Media, Inc. Newsmax TV, and Newsmax World are trademarks of Newsmax Media, Inc.

NEWSMAX.COM
America's News Page
© 2025 Newsmax Media, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Download the Newsmax App
NEWSMAX.COM
America's News Page
© 2025 Newsmax Media, Inc.
All Rights Reserved