Documents have shown that a top State Department official tried to change a key finding regarding Hillary Clinton's use of a private server. The investigation continues to spell trouble for the presidential nominee.
Files made public on Monday claim that a high-ranking State Department official offered an FBI agent a "quid pro quo" in exchange for the agency altering a piece of information about one of the emails sent from Clinton's private server, AP reported.
Patrick Kennedy, the undersecretary of state for management, offered to allow the FBI to place more agents in overseas posts in exchange for declassifying or lowering the classification of the email.
The email concerned reports from November 2012 that Libyan police were arresting suspects following the attack on the US diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya.
The alteration would have allowed the State Department to archive the email in the basement of its headquarters, effectively hiding it away from public view for good. The FBI ultimately rejected the offer, according to the files.
However, the FBI later confirmed on Monday that allegations of a "quid pro quo" were false and that the agent in question was now retired.
The information comes just as the US presidential election pulls into the final stretch, with Clinton maintaining a clear lead over Republican rival Donald Trump in most recent polls.
