Cybersecurity

Classification Rules Haunting Clinton Are Under Review, Clapper Says

  • Intelligence chief says agencies ‘guilty’ of overclassifying
  • Without mentioning Clinton, Clapper calls procedures outdated

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper speaks at the 2016 Intelligence and National Security Summit in Washington on Sept. 7, 2016.

Photographer: JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images
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U.S. intelligence officials are considering a fundamental overhaul of the process used to classify information, possibly doing away with the low-level designation of “confidential” that contributed to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s troubles.

Without mentioning Clinton or the inquiries into her use of a private e-mail system, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Wednesday that intelligence agencies are "guilty" of overclassifying material.