US Department of State denies giving Blackberry to Clinton

Baku. 20 August. REPORT.AZ/ US State Department spokesperson John Kirby confirmed that Clinton’s two aides turned in the BlackBerry devices to the State Department upon their departure, Report informs citing Sputniknews.

“[The State Department] does not believe that any personal computing device was issued… to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and has not located any such device,” State Department Executive Secretary Joseph Macmanus said in the court filing to respond to watchdog Judicial Watch’s Freedom of Information Act request.

Macmanus added that the department believed Clinton’s longtime aides Cheryl Mills and Huma Abedin were issued BlackBerry devices, but that the department could not locate the devices.

“Because the devices issued to Ms. Mills and Ms. Abedin would have been outdated models, in accordance with standard operating procedures those devices would have been destroyed or excessed,” Macmanus said.

In March 2015, Clinton came under heavy scrutiny for using a personal email account for official business during her tenure as Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013. At the time, Clinton claimed she did not use her personal email server to send any classified material.

However, the authorities determined that at least four of Clinton’s emails should have been classified as secret and not sent through an unclassified server.

On Thursday, a federal judge in Washington, DC will hear Judicial Watch's arguments on the issue of Clinton’s emails.