Server turned over to FBI

washington» The email server used by Hillary Clinton when she served as secretary of state was turned over to the FBI late Wednesday afternoon from a private data center in New Jersey, according to an attorney familiar with the transfer.

“It was picked up about 4 p.m.,” said Barbara J. Wells, a Denver lawyer who represents Platte River Networks Inc., a small computer services firm that has managed the Clintons’ private e-mail system since mid-2013.

Wells said her client was contacted by the FBI, which expressed interest in obtaining the old server. The FBI did not have a search warrant or subpoena and did not interview her clients, she said.

The FBI’s request for information about Clinton’s e-mail system followed a referral from the intelligence community’s inspector general to the Justice Department in July.

Intelligence officials expressed concern that sensitive information was not in the government’s possession and could be “compromised.” The referral did not accuse Clinton of wrongdoing, and officials familiar with the inquiry have said that the FBI is not targeting her.

In addition to obtaining the old server, the FBI recently obtained a thumb drive in the possession of Clinton’s lawyer, David Kendall, that contained copies of work e-mails kept on the server.

Before it was taken to a “secure data center” in New Jersey, the server had been in the basement of the Clintons’ private home in Chappaqua, N.Y., during the time she was secretary of state, according to people familiar with the Clintons’ e-mail network.

After she left government service in early 2013, the Clintons decided to upgrade the system, hiring Platte River as the new manager of a privately managed e-mail network. The old server was removed from the Clinton home by Platte River and stored in a third-party data center, which are set up to provide security from threats of hacking and natural disaster, Wells said.

Platte River Networks has retained control of the old server since it took over management of the Clintons’ e-mail system. Wells said the old server “was blank” and no longer contained useful data.

“To my knowledge the data on the old server is not available now on any servers or devices in Platte River Network’s control,” she said, adding that the firm has “been assured that (it) is not the subject of any investigation.”