Sec Kerry orders probe of US State Department e-mail procedures

US Secretary of State John Kerry has asked the department's inspector general to look into procedures for handling e-mails by State Department employees, the department said. State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said the move was not specifically to investigate the handling of e-mails by Hillary Clinton when she was secretary of state. Clinton has been criticized for using personal e-mail for government business when she led the department from 2009 to 2013, causing a controversy as she prepares to launch a bid for the Democratic US presidential nomination in 2016. Secretary of State Kerry asked for an overall review of State Department efforts to improve records management, including e-mail archiving and responding to Freedom of Information Act and Congressional inquiries, Rathke said. Secretary of State Kerry's letter said the State Department should "adapt our systems and policies to keep pace with changes in technology and the way our personnel work," Rathke said.