Oversight of the State Department Hearing
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OVERSIGHT OF THE STATE DEPARTMENT HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION JULY 7, 2016 Serial No. 114–67 Printed for the use of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.fdsys.gov http://www.house.gov/reform VerDate Sep 11 2014 14:35 Oct 12, 2016 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6011 Sfmt 6011 F:\21323.TXT APRIL AKING-6430 with DISTILLER VerDate Sep 11 2014 14:35 Oct 12, 2016 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6011 Sfmt 6011 F:\21323.TXT APRIL AKING-6430 with DISTILLER OVERSIGHT OF THE STATE DEPARTMENT HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION JULY 7, 2016 Serial No. 114–67 Printed for the use of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.fdsys.gov http://www.house.gov/reform U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 21–323 PDF WASHINGTON : 2016 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Sep 11 2014 14:35 Oct 12, 2016 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 F:\21323.TXT APRIL AKING-6430 with DISTILLER COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM JASON CHAFFETZ, Utah, Chairman JOHN L. MICA, Florida ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS, Maryland, Ranking MICHAEL R. TURNER, Ohio Minority Member JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR., Tennessee CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York JIM JORDAN, Ohio ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, District of TIM WALBERG, Michigan Columbia JUSTIN AMASH, Michigan WM. LACY CLAY, Missouri PAUL A. GOSAR, Arizona STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts SCOTT DESJARLAIS, Tennessee JIM COOPER, Tennessee TREY GOWDY, South Carolina GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia BLAKE FARENTHOLD, Texas MATT CARTWRIGHT, Pennsylvania CYNTHIA M. LUMMIS, Wyoming TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina BRENDA L. LAWRENCE, Michigan RON DESANTIS, Florida TED LIEU, California MICK MULVANEY, South Carolina BONNIE WATSON COLEMAN, New Jersey KEN BUCK, Colorado STACEY E. PLASKETT, Virgin Islands MARK WALKER, North Carolina MARK DESAULNIER, California ROD BLUM, Iowa BRENDAN F. BOYLE, Pennsylvania JODY B. HICE, Georgia PETER WELCH, Vermont STEVE RUSSELL, Oklahoma MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM, New Mexico EARL L. ‘‘BUDDY’’ CARTER, Georgia GLENN GROTHMAN, Wisconsin WILL HURD, Texas GARY J. PALMER, Alabama JENNIFER HEMINGWAY, Staff Director DAVID RAPALLO, Minority Staff Director TRISTAN LEAVITT, Senior Counsel WILLIAM MARX, Clerk (II) VerDate Sep 11 2014 14:35 Oct 12, 2016 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\21323.TXT APRIL AKING-6430 with DISTILLER C O N T E N T S Page Hearing held on July 7, 2016 ................................................................................. 1 WITNESSES The Hon. James Comey, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 5 Mr. Steve Linick, Inspector General, Department of State, Accompanied by Ms. Jennifer Costello, Assistant Inspector General for Evaluations and Special Projects, Department of State Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 92 Mr. I. Charles McCullough, III, Inspector General for the Intelligence Com- munity, Office of the Director of National Intelligence Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 92 APPENDIX Sensitive Compartmented Information Nondisclosure Agreement, signed by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, submitted by Rep. Chaffetz ....... 122 Classified Information Nondisclosure Agreement, signed by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, submitted by Rep. Chaffetz ...................................... 124 A July 6, 2016 letter to the House Oversight and Government Reform Com- mittee from Richard W. Painter, S. Walter Richey, Professor of Corporate Law at the University of Minnesota Law School, submitted by Rep. Law- rence ...................................................................................................................... 126 Two reports from the Office of Inspector General at the State Department, submitted by Rep. Chaffetz ................................................................................. 128 a. ‘‘Evaluation of the Department of State’s FOIA Process for Requests Involving the Office of the Secretary’’ January 2016 .................................... 129 b. ‘‘Office of the Secretary: Evaluation of Email Records Management and Cybersecurity Requirements’’ May 2016 ................................................. 157 Series of memoranda from both the Department of State Inspector General and the ODNI Inspector General, submitted by Rep. Chaffetz ........................ 240 Opening Statement submitted by Rep. Elijah E. Cummings ............................... 255 (III) VerDate Sep 11 2014 14:35 Oct 12, 2016 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\21323.TXT APRIL AKING-6430 with DISTILLER VerDate Sep 11 2014 14:35 Oct 12, 2016 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\21323.TXT APRIL AKING-6430 with DISTILLER OVERSIGHT OF THE STATE DEPARTMENT Thursday, July 7, 2016 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM, WASHINGTON, D.C. The committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:04 a.m., in Room 2154, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Jason Chaffetz [chair- man of the committee] presiding. Present: Representatives Chaffetz, Mica, Duncan, Jordan, Walberg, Amash, Gosar, DesJarlais, Gowdy, Farenthold, Lummis, Massie, Meadows, DeSantis, Mulvaney, Buck, Walker, Blum, Hice, Russell, Carter, Grothman, Hurd, Palmer, Cummings, Maloney, Norton, Clay, Lynch, Cooper, Connolly, Cartwright, Duckworth, Kelly, Lawrence, Lieu, Watson Coleman, Plaskett, DeSaulnier, Boyle, Welch, and Lujan Grisham. Chairman CHAFFETZ. The Committee on Oversight and Govern- ment Reform will come to order. Without objection, the chair is authorized to declare a recess at any time. I want to thank Director Comey for being here and doing so on short notice. I have the greatest admiration for the FBI. My grand- father was a career FBI agent. I have got to tell you, I am here because we are mystified and confused by the fact pattern that you laid out and the conclusions that you reached. It seems that there are two standards, and there is no consequence for these types of activities and dealing in a care- less way with classified information. It seems to a lot of us that the average Joe, the average American, that if they had done what you laid out in your statement, that they’d be in handcuffs and they might be on their way to jail, and they probably should, and I think there is a legitimate concern that there is a double standard. If your name isn’t Clinton or you’re not part of the powerful elite, that Lady Justice will act differently. It is a concern that Lady Jus- tice will take off that blindfold and come to a different conclusion. Hillary Clinton created this mess. It wasn’t Republicans. It wasn’t anybody else. She made a very conscious decision. On the very day that she started her Senate confirmation, she set up and got a domain name and set up a system to avoid and bypass the safety, security, and the protocol of the State Department. Classified information is classified for a reason. It is classified be- cause if it were to get out into the public, there are nefarious ac- tors, nation-states, others that want to do harm to this country, and there are people who put their lives on the line protecting and serving our country, and when those communications are not se- (1) VerDate Sep 11 2014 14:35 Oct 12, 2016 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\21323.TXT APRIL AKING-6430 with DISTILLER 2 cure, it puts their lives at jeopardy. This classified information is entrusted to very few, but there is such a duty and an obligation to protect that, to fall on your sword to protect that, and yet there doesn’t seem to be any consequence. You know, I was talking to Trey Gowdy, and he made a really good point with us yesterday. Mr. Gowdy said, you know, in your statement, Mr. Director, you mentioned that there was no prece- dent for this, but we believe that you have set a precedent, and it’s a dangerous one. The precedent is if you sloppily deal with classi- fied information, if you are cavalier about it—and it wasn’t just an innocent mistake; this went on for years—that there is going to be no consequence. We are a different nation in the United States of America. We are self-critical. Most nations would never do this, but we do it in the spirit of making ourselves better. There will be all kinds of ac- cusations about political this and political that. I have defended your integrity every step of the way. You are the definitive voice. I stand by that, but I am mystified, and I am confused, because you listen to your fact pattern and come to the conclusion that there is no consequence, I don’t know how to explain that. We will have constituents ask us. They’ll get mad. They will pound the—you know, they’re frustrated. They have seen this happen time and time again. I don’t know how to explain it, and I hope that, through this hearing, we can stick to the facts and understand this, because there does seem to be two standards. There does seem to be no consequence, and I want to understand that, and I want to be able to explain that to the person that’s sitting at home, and that is why we are here. And so I yield back. I now recognize the ranking member, Mr. Cummings. Mr. CUMMINGS. Director Comey, thank you for being here today. I want to begin by commending you and the public servants at the FBI for the independent investigation you conducted. You had a thankless task. No matter what recommendation you made, you were sure to be criticized. There is no question that you were ex- tremely thorough.