Tipsheet

State Department: "Fairly Certain" Hillary Clinton Did Not Sign Separation Form

Spokesperson Jen Psaki said Tuesday that the State Department has no record of Hillary Clinton signing a separation agreement when she ended her tenure as Secretary of State and that she is "fairly certain" Clinton did not sign any such document.

"We have reviewed Secretary Clinton's official personnel file and administrative files and do not have any record of her signing the OF-109," Psaki said. Asked specifically if this means Clinton did not sign a separation agreement with State, Psaki added, "I think we are fairly certain she did not."

The form in question, OF-109, asks departing government officials to certify that they have “surrendered to responsible officials all unclassified documents, and papers relating to the official business of the Government acquired by me while in the employ of the Department." 

Clinton's business-related personal emails, none of which she turned over until just recently, would have qualified as such documents. 

Falsely certifying that one has turned over all such documents, which is what Clinton would have done if she signed such a document at the time of her departure, is a federal crime.

Psaki was quick to add that Clinton is not the only Secretary of State not to sign such a form. "In addition, after looking into their official personnel files, we did not locate any record of either of her immediate predecessors signing this form. It's not clear that this form is used as part of a standard part of checkout across the federal government or even at the State Department so we're certainly looking into that."