Allegations of "quid pro quo" between a senior State Department official and FBI agents appear in investigation notes provided to the House Government Oversight and Intelligence Committees, according to a Fox News report.
"This is a flashing red light of potential criminality," Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, told Fox News.
Patrick Kennedy, undersecretary for Management, and the FBI, allegedly brokered a deal over "one classified email" in which "in return for altering the classification, the possibility of additional slots for the FBI at missions overseas was discussed," Chaffetz said, per the report.
The FBI debunked the report in a statement to Fox News, confirming the conversation took place, but the issues discussed were not connected.
Here is the complete statement:
"Prior to the initiation of the FBI’s investigation of former Secretary Clinton’s personal email server, the FBI was asked to review and make classification determinations on FBI emails and information which were being produced by the State Department pursuant to FOIA. The FBI determined that one such email was classified at the Secret level.
"A senior State Department official requested the FBI re-review that email to determine whether it was in fact classified or whether it might be protected from release under a different FOIA exemption. A now-retired FBI official, who was not part of the subsequent Clinton investigation, told the State Department official that they would look into the matter.
"Having been previously unsuccessful in attempts to speak with the senior State official, during the same conversation, the FBI official asked the State Department official if they would address a pending, unaddressed FBI request for space for additional FBI employees assigned abroad. Following the call, the FBI official consulted with a senior FBI executive responsible for determining the classification of the material and determined the email was in fact appropriately classified at the Secret level.
"The FBI official subsequently told the senior State official that the email was appropriately classified at the Secret level and that the FBI would not change the classification of the email. The classification of the email was not changed, and it remains classified today. Although there was never a quid pro quo, these allegations were nonetheless referred to the appropriate officials for review."
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