FBI finds up to 30 deleted Benghazi emails Clinton did not turn over

I hadn’t intended to write two Hillary Clinton email posts tonight. However, news that FBI investigators recovered 30 Benghazi-related emails from Hillary Clinton’s wiped server is potentially too important not to comment on right away.

Government lawyers told U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta today that some of the 30 recovered emails relating to Benghazi — they didn’t say now many — were not included in the 55,000 pages previously provided by Clinton. The State Department’s lawyer also told the judge that the Department needs until the end of September to review the emails and redact potentially classified information before they are released.

Judge Mehta was skeptical. He questioned why it would take so long to release so few documents, urged that the process be expedited, and ordered the department to report to him in a week with more details about why the review process would take a full month.

As AP points out, Clinton previously has claimed that she withheld and deleted only personal emails not related to her duties as Secretary of State. Clearly, though, any and all Benghazi-related emails related to those duties.

If it turns out that some of the newly recovered emails contain new content, as opposed to just duplicating previously turned over material, Hillary will be caught in yet another lie — this one relating to Benghazi, an area of particular vulnerability.

In addition, it’s possible that the recovered emails contain incriminating information about Clinton’s handling of Benghazi and/or the truthfulness of her public comments about the debacle. Such emails are just the ones Team Clinton would have the greatest incentive to destroy.

Here’s where the issue of redaction may be important. As Judge Mehta told the government, redacting 30 or fewer emails should be a simple task — one that does not require a month to accomplish. However, redacting them artfully enough to prevent damage to Hillary Clinton is a bit more complicated, if it comes to that.

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