Clinton Official pleads guilty to conspiracy charges tied to communist China agents
ate Department.”
Candace Marie Claiborne.
Claiborne, who had top secret security clearance, received “tens of
thousands of dollars in gifts and benefits.” Some of the favors were
given directly to her, while others were provided to a family member to
supposedly pass along to the former federal employee. Benefits received
included cash to her USAA account, international travel and vacations, a
fully furnished apartment, Chinese New Year’s gifts, tuition at a
Chinese fashion school, a monthly stipend, and many cash payments.
Assistant Attorney General Demers said that “Candace Marie Claiborne
traded her integrity and non-public information of the United States
government in exchange for cash and other gifts from foreign agents she
knew worked for the Chinese intelligence service.”
The plea documents state that Claiborne provided “copies of internal
documents from the State Department on topics ranging from U.S. economic
strategies to visits by dignitaries between the two countries” in
exchange for the benefits received.
In her journal, according to the DOJ, Claiborne noted that she could
“Generate 20K in 1 year” by working with the PRC. The agent she referred
to at one point gave her the task of “providing internal U.S.
Government analyses on a U.S.-Sino Strategic Economic Dialogue that had
just occurred.”
The DOJ also said Claiborne admitted to a co-conspirator that the PRC
agents were “spies.” Allegedly, after being contacted by FBI
investigators and the State Department, she instructed co-conspirators
to “delete evidence connecting her to the PRC agents.”
Claiborne started her career with the Department of State in 1999 as
an office management specialist, working under former President Bill
Clinton. She was also with the Department during Hillary Clinton’s stint
as secretary of state from 2009 to 2012. Is there a correlation here
regarding deleted evidence and emails?
Part of Claiborne’s duties included serving overseas “including
embassies and consulates in Baghdad, Iraq, Khartoum, Sudan, and Beijing
and Shanghai, China.” As part of her top-secret clearance and
employment, she was required to report “any contacts with persons
suspected of affiliation with a foreign intelligence agency as well as
any gifts she received from foreign sources over a certain amount.”
Claiborne was arrested on March 28, 2017 and pleaded guilty to
conspiracy to defraud the United States on April 24, 2019. Her
conviction carries a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison. She
is scheduled for sentencing on July 9. FPI, Free Press International
