by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright March 13, 2015
All Rights Reserved.

            Facing the media at the United Nations March 11 for the first time since the New York Time broke the email scandal March 2,  a smiling former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had little to say why she used a private email account while serving as the nation’s top diplomat.  Since the story broke, the media has been abuzz with why she ignored the Obama administration rule to use government emails for official business.  Right wing media pounced on the chance to rip the likely 2016 Democratic presidential candidate before her expected announcement next month.  Presumed the favorite to win the Democratic nomination—and the White House—the GOP found the left-leaning New York Times its best friend,  raising questions of secrecy that have dogged the Clintons since conservative blogger Matt Drudge broke the Lewinsky sex scandal Jan. 17, 1998.  “I feel like this is classic Hillary,” said an unnamed journalist wailing in line at the U.N. for her press event.

               About 50 journalists heard Hillary say she avoided government email out of convenience because she didn’t want to carry two cell phones.  She insisted she handed over about 55,000 emails connected to her work as Secretary of State.  Journalists wanted to know why she deliberately bypassed the government email system to use a private email server for her official duties.  Whipping up a frenzy in the conservative media, expected GOP presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) declared Hillary unfit to run for president.  Republican National Committee Chairman 42-year-old Reince Preibus pounced on the chance to discredit the 67-year-old former First Lady, U.S. Senator and Secretary of State.  Preibus hoped the email story would sink Hillary’s presidential ambitions.  New RNC talking points use the email issues as proof Hillary isn’t trustworthy, especially on the Sept. 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya.

              Republicans cried a monstrous cover-up before the 2012 presidential election to assure President Barack Obama’s second-term victory Nov. 4, 2012.  Republicans hoped the Benghazi terrorists attack—that killed Amb. Chris Stevens and three other Americans—would sink Obama’s chances for a second term.  RNC officials were convinced the White House avoided  calling it a terrorist attack to spare the president embarrassment before the 2012 presidential election.   When former U.N. Amb. Susan Rice insisted on Sunday-morning talk show that the attack was due to rioting against a defamatory video about the Prophet Mohammed, the GOP went wild, screaming a White House cover-up.  RNC officials did their best to blame Hillary for the lack of security that resulted in the deaths of Stevens and three other Americans.    When the New York Times broke the email story, the GOP jumped at the chance to further discredit Hillary before she announces for president.  Hillary could have given a far better excuse about using private emails for convenience.

              Since the 1998 Lewinsky scandal, no one in America has been more scrutinized than the Clintons.  When Clinton lefts office Jan. 20, 2001, he created his own email server to help guard against the kind of hacking scandals that had no government emails safe.  Using her husband Bill’s secure email server was perfect excuse to avoid the kind of hacks that left many government officials and public agencies vulnerable to hacking.  Considering past hacking scandals with the Romanian “Guccifer,” and, more recently, the Edward Snowen affair, it’s no wonder Hillary wanted more security than a government email account.  Recent hacks of Sony Pictures by North Korea prove that even the most secure public corporations are vulnerable to clever hackers.   “I did not email classified material to anyone on my email,” said Hillary, undercutting GOP contentions that she breached her duty as Secretary of State to safeguard classified information.

            Hillary claimed her selective release of emails had to do with ferreting out personal communication, like her mother’s funeral and daughter’s wedding, from government work.  Asked why she deleted some 30,000 emails, Hillary explained they were matters not related to her official State Department work.  “No one wants their personal emails made public, and I think most people understand that and respect that privacy,” said Hillary, confronting the GOP narrative that she’s trying to cover-up something related to Benghazi or some other official business.  Leaving office Feb. 1, 2013, Hillary didn’t technically violate the document law signed by Obama in 2014 requiring officials to use government emails.  Hillary instructed the State Department to vet and release some 55,000 emails to make her record as Secretary of State as complete as possible.  Her failure to use “government” email means little other than raising suspicions in right wing media.

               When all is said and done regarding Hillary’s email issues, the bottom line is a practical one:  Do voters care more about government or private emails or what direction the country takes?  While hyped to the max, Hillary’s email issues mean less to voters than real issues  before the 2016 campaign heats up.  Whether Hillary used private emails or not, stark differences exist between Democrats and the GOP, especially regarding popular entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security.  Before now and the 2016 election, both sides will throw as much mud as possible to get votes.  Hillary’s use of private emails raises only vague suspicions, nothing compared to the stark policy differences between the parties.  As long as the GOP bashes gays and immigrants and oppose popular entitlements, it won’t matter to voters how Hillary sent emails.   Spending too much time on Benghazi and Hillary’s emailing habits could wind up backfiring on the GOP.