Hillary Clinton did not complete the highest level of security training required by the State Department for proper handling of the government's most secret documents, according to information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by The Daily Caller News Foundation.
The State Department released 46 pages of documents that detailed information from when Clinton joined the State Department as secretary of state in 2009. There are no documents that show Clinton completed the SCI training course, but documents show that two of her top aides did.
A document signed by Clinton's chief of staff at the time Cheryl Mills and deputy chief Huma Abedin showed they both completed training on handling "Special Compartmented Information" when they joined the department. Mills and Abedin signed documents on Jan. 29 and 30 that showed they "Completed SCI indoctrination."
Classified documents in the SCI category cover the nation's highest guarded secrets, including material gained through intelligence operations including "human assets," spies who are embedded in foreign governments.
The Daily Caller said it made the Freedom of Information Act request because of the investigation into Clinton's handling of classified information when she was secretary of state.
Retired Col. Jim Waurishuk, former U.S. Central Command deputy director for intelligence, said it's standard to get training done when an official takes office.
"It's hard to believe, particularly as it was her first year in office as secretary of state. The standard process is you will get all your security indoctrination done immediately upon taking office," Waurishuk said.
"I don't care if you're a GS-1 or a private or a four-star general or President of the United States. You're going to go through your security indoctrination, particularly in the position of secretary of state."
Only authorized individuals can view SCI documents, and then only in a "Special Compartmented Information Facility." All smartphones, audio and video recorders, personal laptops, hard drives, writable CDs, MP3 players, and iPods are banned in the facility.
Waurishuk said people who refuse SCI training should have their security clearance revoked. "Technically, if you don't do (the training) for people at my level, they can pull your clearance. There's a level of responsibility, trustworthiness, and your integrity that comes into play here," he said.
No further information has been revealed about if Clinton refused to take the course or did not complete it. Waurishuk questioned whether Clinton's aides got her out of the course.
"Who knows what level of authority that Huma and Cheryl Mills pulled on people to say, 'Bug off, leave us alone. She's busy. She doesn't have time for this,'" the retired general said.
Bradley Moss, the attorney handing the case for the Daily Caller News Foundation, questioned whether Clinton or her aides got training after 2009.
"Time will tell whether they — and particularly Secretary Clinton — ever received renewed awareness training after 2009 just like rank and file employees are required to do."
According to The Washington Post's annotations of the first presidential debate, Clinton was asked about her emails, and said her handling of them was a "mistake." Republican rival Donald Trump said, "It was more than a mistake."