
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai visits with Clinton in her outer office at the State Department on January 10, 2013. (Credit: Jonathan Ernst / Reuters)
During this time, Clinton and her aides exchange emails discussing “North Korea, Mexico, Afghanistan, military advisers, CIA operations and a briefing for Obama.” Some of the emails will later be redacted, including one written to Clinton about Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai.
In late March, top aide Jake Sullivan emails Clinton a draft of a confidential report she is to make to President Obama. “Attached is a draft of your Mexico trip report to [Obama],” the email states. (The Washington Post, 3/27/2016)
During these two months, Clinton travels to Belgium, Switzerland, Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Turkey, Mexico, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea, and China. Her emails would have almost no defense against eavesdropping by foreign intelligence and hackers during all those trips.
Furthermore, some intelligence agencies are known to attempt eavesdropping around this time. For instance, at a world leader summit in April 2009, British intelligence sets up fake Internet in the hope that government ministers and their staff will use them so their communications can be intercepted. (ComputerWorld, 3/11/2015)
A September 2016 FBI report will determine that “Clinton’s clintonemail.com email traffic was potentially vulnerable to compromise when she first began using her personal account in January 2009. It was not until late March 2009… that access to the server was afforded an added layer of security.” (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 9/2/2016)