State Dept. To Release More Than 7,000 Clinton Emails

The State Department will release a tranche of more than 7,000 emails belonging to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday night -- the largest such release to date.



Spokesman Mark Toner told reporters the release will take place at roughly 9 p.m. local time (0100 GMT).



Combined with previous releases in May, June and July, the State Department will have released more than 25 percent of Clinton's emails from a private email server following a court order that required the agency to release her emails monthly through next year.



"Today's production exceeds the court's goal of producing 25 percent of the Clinton email collection by Aug. 31," Toner said, noting that roughly 150 of the emails contain classified information.



At least 64 passages were censored from 37 messages in the last batch released at the end of July.



Controversy about the emails erupted after it was revealed that Clinton had used a private email server to conduct official correspondence.



Critics have claimed that the veteran former top diplomat used the private account to avoid transparency and scrutiny. - Washington DC