Emails on Hillary's Private Server Have References To Undercover CIA Officers

The emails did not reveal the identities of the officers; but they were blatant enough that they were retroactively classified by the State Department
The messages are part of a grouping of 22 emails now considered 'top secret' that were kept back from a docu-dump last Friday
Clinton's presidential campaign is denying that she put national security in danger by storing them on a private serve in her home
'The leaking of selective details gives a completely false impression about what is actually contained in the emails forwarded to Hillary Clinton,' it said

Emails sent to Hillary Clinton's private email address on her home server contained references to undercover CIA officers, U.S. officials says.

A Fox News report released earlier this week claimed the messages put 'sources, methods and lives' in jeopardy.

And it said the 'emails included Holy Grail items of American espionage such as the true names of Central Intelligence Agency intelligence officers serving overseas under cover.'

In one instance a CIA officer was referred to as 'State' in an email to conceal the operative's true occupation.

In another, an agent was deemed 'OGA' for other government agency - an alternative name for the CIA within the government.

One email was even sent by a member of of the CIA director's staff, NBC reports.

The federal government said the emails were so sensitive they could never see the light of day. A top secret categorization means by definition that they include information that would case 'exceptionally grave damage to the national security' of the United States.

Fox News said in a follow up report, released as voting began in Iowa in the Democratic primary, that the emails contained 'operational intelligence' and in storing them on her home server Clinton put 'sources, methods and lives' of CIA affiliates on the line.

Republican Congressman Mike Pompeo, who is also on the House intelligence committee, said in his expert opinion, the emails should remain classified.

'There is no way that someone, a senior government official who has been handling classified information for a good chunk of their adult life, could not have known that this information ought to be classified, whether it was marked or not,' he told Fox.

Read more: [link to www.dailymail.co.uk]