Presidential Election 2016
State Department Accuses Hillary Clinton Of Violating Email Rules
May 25 2016, Published 3:21 p.m. ET
A State Department internal audit has faulted Hillary Clinton for her poor email management and slow response to cyber security risks.
A copy of the 78-page analysis from the Inspector General obtained by the Associated Press reveals that the agency is riddled with "longstanding systemic weaknesses" in communications.
Clinton is not fully to blame, as these weaknesses began prior to her appointment as Secretary of State, the report claims. But the Inspector General specifically slams Clinton for the use of her private email server. The likely democratic presidential nominee did not seek approval regarding her email use, violating set guidelines.
"Therefore, Secretary Clinton should have preserved any Federal records she created and received on her personal account by printing and filing those records with the related files in the Office of the Secretary," the report stated, according to Politico.
"At a minimum, Secretary Clinton should have surrendered all emails dealing with Department business before leaving government service and, because she did not do so, she did not comply with the Department's policies that were implemented in accordance with the Federal Records Act."
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Clinton and her closest aides have refused to cooperate with the review.
The audit also stated that she used mobile devices for official business purposes, and did not ask senior information officers for approval to use her private server for government business.
The Clinton campaign has been swarmed by scandals in both the candidate's personal and professional life.
Clinton has refused to address allegations of sexual misconduct against her husband Bill, and has denied any wrongdoing regarding her ongoing email probe.
One of the most recent allegations involving Clinton's poor security in her private server involved a Romanian hacker who claimed he easily breached her email in 2013, a risk that was also detailed in the report.
The report stated that the department was "slow to recognize and to manage effectively the legal requirements and cyber security risks associated with electronic data communications, particularly as those risks pertain to its most senior leadership."