Doing it her way, 68-year-old former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton continues to be dogged by questions of how and why she managed her government work on her private email account. Urged to use the government email, Hillary insists she used her husband’s, former President Bill Clinton’s, home-based Chappaqua, N.Y., email account for work and private communications for convenience. Of the 60,000 emails sent during her stint as Secretary of State, Clinton handed over only 30,000 to the State Department, insisting the balance were all personal. A random review by the Inspector General of 40 emails indicated that at least two had what looked like classified or top-secret clearance. Investigating Hillary’s role in the Sept. 11, 2012 Benghazi, Libya terrorist attack that killed Amb. Chris Stevens and three other Americans, a House Select Committee raises questions.
Rep Trey Gowdy’s (R.S.C.) Select Committee is designed to throw mud on Hillary during an Election Year, knowing that she’s the prohibitive favorite to win the Democratic Party’s nomination. Raising questions about how she misused her private email account diverts attention from her campaign, calling into question her credibility. National polls show unanswered questions about Hillary’s emails have hurt her trustworthiness in the public’s eye. When the IG pointed out two potential classified emails, the Clinton camp dismissed the criticism as overblown. One email discussed the controversial predator drone program in Pakistan, something acknowledged by the government and discussed in the press. Whatever the actual level of the security clearance, it’s clear that Hillary didn’t take into consideration the highly classified, if not top-secret, information contained in the two emails.
It’s not up to government employees like Hillary to decide for herself what’s classified and what isn’t. Using her private email server compromised State Department recommendations to use her government email because of security clearance. One of the emails got designated at “TK” or “Talent Keyhole,” meaning information was obtained by spy satellites. Other designations marked the emails “NOFORN,” requiring security clearance to review the documents. Whether the designations were a stretch or not, it’s not up to government employees to second-guess the intelligence community, especially arbitrary ratings about classified or top-secret material. When Charles McCullough, the intelligence community IG, reviewed the emails, he concluded that it qualified as classified or top secret, regardless of how intelligence agencies sometimes over classify documents.
None of Hillary’s email breaches rise to the level of a criminal offense yet. But handling classified and top secret information does point to a fast-and-loose quality not befitting of someone seeking the presidency. Even if former CIA Director Leon Panetta or Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.), ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, discussed the email publicly, Hillary’s still not at liberty to convey classified or top-secret information in her private email. Sen. Chuck Grassey (R-Iowa) indicated the IG found four “highly classified” emails on Hillary’s private server, at least two were classified “Top Secret/SCI, or “Sensitive Compartmented Information,” not something that should be transmitted in private email. Clinton’s spokeswoman Jennifer Palmeri indicated that Hillary was permitted to use her private email server while classification reviews over security clearance went through.
Reviewing the emails found by McCulllough on Hillary’s server, Feinstein indicated the emails contained no markings of classified or top-secret status. “None of the emails alleged to contain classified information include any markings that indicate classified content,” said Feinstein, uncertain how the IG determined that the content warranted classified or top-secret classification. Scrutinizing Hillary’s private emails was not what she wanted as she battles for the Democratic nomination. Handing over only 50% of her private emails raise more questions of what was contained in the some 30,000 emails scrubbed from her server, citing personal privacy. Government security experts worry that Hillary’s Chappaqua, N.Y. server was compromised by the Russian equivalent of the National Security Agency. Without government email encryption, it opens the door to nefarious foreign activity.
Hillary’s growing email problems prompted widespread speculation about 72-year-old Vice President Joe Biden and former VP Al Gore considering jumping into the 2016 presidential race. Whatever the IG finds or doesn’t find in Hillary’s emails, her refusal to heed State Department recommendations suggest a lack of compliance with government rules. Insisting the IG’s designations of emails as classified or top-secret are arbitrary doesn’t detract from Hillary’s fast-and-loose play with her emails. With 30,000 emails scrubbed, destroyed or otherwise missing, it hands the GOP more ammunition to impeach Hillary’s credibility. Whether or not Russian or Chinese hackers breached Hillary’s private sever is anyone’s guess. What’s known for sure is that the former Secretary of State didn’t follow State Department recommendations to protect the information security of the United States.
