Medill DC / CC BY 2.0

Threads by a user asking for advice on how to “strip out a VIP’s (VERY VIP) email address from a bunch of archived email” on the popular website Reddit may point to Paul Combetta, the tech specialist involved in the Hillary Clinton email scandal. U.S. News & World Report has compiled the Reddit requests in question, linking them to important dates in the investigation into Clinton’s emails.

An army of reddit users believes it has found evidence that former Hillary Clinton computer specialist Paul Combetta solicited free advice regarding Clinton’s private email server from users of the popular web forum.

A collaborative investigation showed a reddit user with the username stonetear requested help in relation to retaining and purging email messages after 60 days, and requested advice on how to remove a “VERY VIP” individual’s email address from archived content.

The requests match neatly with publicly known dates related to Clinton’s use of a private email server while secretary of state.

The House Oversight Committee in charge of the Clinton investigation is now looking into these claims, according to The Hill.

The House Oversight Committee is reviewing a Reddit post that alleges an IT specialist who worked on Hillary Clinton’s private server sought advice on how to alter the contents of “VERY VIP” emails, according to Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.).

Meadows is the chairman of the panel’s Government Operations subcommittee.

“The Reddit post issue and its connection to Paul Combetta is currently being reviewed by OGR staff and evaluations are being made as to the authenticity of the post,” Meadows told The Hill.

Reddit users appear to have uncovered a two-year-old post from an account believed to belong to Combetta, an engineer with Platte River Networks. The Denver, Colo.-based firm managed Clinton’s private server.

The post, which has been deleted but can be read in images archived by Reddit users, coincides with the discovery of Clinton’s use of the server.

Platte River Networks has been contacted by U.S. News & World Report journalist Steven Nelson, but has responded by stating, “Right now we are respectfully declining all media inquiries.”

— Posted by Natasha Hakimi Zapata

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