Colin Powell Says Hillary Clinton’s ‘People Have Been Trying to Pin’ Her Email Scandal on Him

Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is flanked by Secretary of State John Kerry, left, and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, on stage during the groundbreaking ceremony for the U.S. Diplomacy Center at the State Department in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2014. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is flanked by Secretary of State John Kerry, left, and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, on stage during the groundbreaking ceremony for the U.S. Diplomacy Center at the State Department in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2014. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Hillary Clinton’s email scandal continues.

On Friday, the New York Times reported that Clinton told FBI officials former Secretary of State Colin Powell had advised her to use a personal email account while she held the Secretary of State office herself.

“Her people have been trying to pin it on me,” Powell, 79, told PEOPLE Saturday night at the Apollo in the Hamptons 2016 Night of Legends fĂȘte in East Hampton, New York.

“The truth is, she was using [the private email server] for a year before I sent her a memo telling her what I did,” Powell added.

Why does the former diplomat believe this to be the case?

“Why do you think?” he said. “It doesn’t bother me. But it’s okay; I’m free.”

The email scandal has dogged presidential hopeful Clinton for more than a year. But federal officials decided not to pursue criminal charges after a three-and-a-half-hour interview, which was when the Democratic nominee disclosed her alleged conversation with Powell.

The reported conversation was first brought to light in journalist Joe Conason’s upcoming Bill Clinton biography, Man of the World: The Further Endeavors of Bill Clinton, in which the writer details a dinner party held by Clinton and attended by Powell, Madeleine Albright, Henry Kissinger and Condoleeza Rice.

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SOURCE: People – Sara Nathan and Jeff Nelson