Watchdog: It’s ‘Hard To Believe’ Top State Dept. Official Was Unaware Of Hillary’s Email Server

The apparent discrepancy should spark further investigation, says Citizens United president David N. Bossie.

"If Patrick Kennedy gave false testimony to the Benghazi Committee, the committee should send the FBI a criminal referral without delay," Bossie told TheDC.

"I've seen numerous emails with Patrick Kennedy's name on them in which official State Department business is being discussed. The idea he wasn't aware of the scope of the private server's use is hard to believe."

Kennedy was aware of Clinton's use of a personal email account. The emails that have been released by the State Department show numerous exchanges in which Kennedy emailed Clinton on her personal address, [email protected]

If anyone outside of Clinton's inner circle at the State Department would be expected to know about the server, it would likely be Kennedy. As under secretary for management he oversees many operational aspects in the agency, including the departments that control IT and technology infrastructure. He also controls the office that handles Freedom of Information Act requests, which Clinton skirted by using the personal email account and server.

"The power behind the throne," is how Peter Van Buren, a former foreign service officer and State Department whistleblower, described Kennedy in an interview with TheDC.

"In terms of the day-to-day operations…he probably is the most powerful person in the building," Van Buren continued, adding that Kennedy "essentially controls the personal and professional lives of almost all of the employees in the building."

Van Buren would know. The State Department moved to fire him in 2012 after he published a book, entitled "We Meant Well," which was critical of the State Department's mission to rebuild Iraq. The agency accused Van Buren of eight different policy violations, including the alleged disclosure of classified information in his book. State also pointed to a post Van Buren published on his blog in which he posted a link to information on the Wikileaks website. State had forbidden employees from linking to the site and had refused to acknowledge that the cables that were published on it were official records.

Van Buren claims that the information that came out in his book and that was linked to on his blog was innocuous. He says that the information published in "We Meant Well" was gleaned from published reports about the CIA's support for Iraqi insurgents. Ironically, Hillary Clinton is making a similar claim to downplay accusations that emails that traversed her server contained "top secret" information. Clinton has asserted that the information in the emails comes from news articles.

"Bullshit," is how Van Buren describes the apparent double-standard.

The 24-year State Department veteran eventually came to an agreement with the agency and resigned in late-2012. He received full benefits but was stripped of his security clearance. It is unclear whether Clinton still has her clearance. A State Department official did state in a letter to Congress in September that Clinton still maintained the clearance. But the FBI's investigation into Clinton's email server appears to have ramped up since then.

But on Kennedy, Van Buren says: "When you control the planning, the money, the tech, the security, you have your fingers on an awful lot of powerful buttons."

On that point, Bossie agrees.

"Many roads in this investigation seem to lead to Patrick Kennedy," he told TheDC. "I'm hopeful that the FBI is following these leads as well."

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