People have little understanding of the government “information security” system related to classified information.
Some government peons (civil servants and military) and government contractor peons need to work with information that is “classified.” In relation to the Defense Department, this is generally about protecting advanced technology and operational techniques. I assume that the State Department also has some protection for privaleged communications about diplomacy.
People who work with classified information must have a clearance equal to or higher than the classification of the information they will handle. They are required to actually need the info to do their job, to sign for the classified documents they receive, to follow specified practices to protect the information from unauthorized disclosure, and to return the documents or have them properly destroyed.
The classified information they receive will already have been marked with a classification. This classification will have been established by people and a security bureaurocracy based on rules. (This system is abused some to hide information from the public only to avoid embarrassment.)
In contrast, a few people in government are involved in initial acquisition or development of information that should be classified. Management exercises some control to try to ensure that such information gets properly classified. The criteria are complex and ambiguous. Departments have security bureaurocracies to try to get it done right. I expect that they all have some rules in place to try to keep their department heads and staffs from fouling things up since the political appointees are going to be ignorant on information security matters.
Hillary probably knew so little about information security that she looked at it like a peon if she ever had a thought about it. To her, the info wasn’t marked as classified so it wasn’t classified. A Secretary of State who actually did her job would no doubt have some communications that should not be publicly released. One who had been in the bureaurocracy would likely have an inkling that some information she originated or received should be considered sensitive, and therefore be “classified” BY HER. She never worked in a federal department. Her deficiency in this case was that she knew so little about managing a federal department that she had security views like a worker peon rather than a high-level manager.
hillary had direct legal experience in watergate, so she knows exactly what classified info is and how to handle it properly.
so for her to come out with this means she is on the ropes.
at least, i hope.
i do agree that any competent person would be embarrassed by having to state this defense.