Former diplomat and lawyer John Bolton said he was the recipient of "a few" private emails from Colin Powell at the State Department, and "wondered about it at the time."
Bolton, who served as under secretary of state for arms control and international security from 2001 to 2005, didn't say if the messages from former secretary of state contained any classified data, as he told Fox News' "On The Record With Brit Hume" on Wednesday night.
"I will say on his email, I did receive a few of his AOL emails when I was at the State Department," Bolton said. "I wondered about it at the time."
Asked if any classified data was transmitted in Powell's private emails, the straight-faced former Ambassador to the U.N. appeared to joke: "On advice of counsel I'm not going to answer that question," adding: "I don't really remember."
"I asked him about it, and he said you can't trace these emails," Bolton continued. "He was a former board member of AOL. So what did I know about this sort of thing. I didn't question him. I'm not sure he was right on it even at that time."
Powell sent Hillary Clinton a detailed email in 2009 on how he bypassed the State Department's security measures while using his own personal computer and cautioned his incoming successor to "be very careful."
Recently, his more recent emails have been linked showing him sharply critical of GOP nominee Donald Trump and his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.
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