Posted on 02/29/2016 1:04:08 PM PST by Citizen Zed
The final 3,800 pages of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's emails will be released later today.
But the most serious controversy surrounding the Democratic presidential frontrunner's exclusive use of a private email account — connected to a server she set up in the bathroom of her New York home — to conduct official government business is far from over. In fact, the worst of it probably lies ahead.
The 30,000 emails the State Department released over the past 10 months in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed by VICE News in January 2015 did not contain any smoking guns about Clinton's tenure at State. But it was the emails the department deemed too sensitive to publicly disclose that attracted the most attention from the media and Clinton's detractors — and they will continue to do so.
More than 1,800 emails were withheld under exemptions to the FOIA law, including nearly 50 that were not released because they were deemed Top Secret and Secret. VICE News is currently fighting in federal court for a summary of the information contained in those emails.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.vice.com ...
Wish the U.S. Government applied the law straight across the board and not make exceptions to people because they think they are special. GET rid of the special priviledges...LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL.
Curious that this is coming from vice.com
Reggie “the love man” Love is their sports editor now.
Are we supposed to expect “smoking guns” in the emails when she destroyed the ones which would have had incriminating evidence?
The “Smoking Gun” were the emails in which she identified our covert agents around the world that could not be released to the public, even in completely redacted format.
"A former State Department official under Hillary Clinton says he witnessed a “document sorting” session being conducted in the basement of the State Department after the Benghazi investigations began. Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Raymond Maxwell says two top Clinton aides, Cheryl Mills and Jake Sullivan, checked in on the session while he was present. The document sorting went on for several weekends, according to Maxwell, and its purpose was to separate documents that could prove “embarrassing” to the secretary. After Maxwell revealed what he says he saw firsthand, he was never contacted by any law enforcement body or Inspector General to investigate. "
Hillary Clinton has, beyond a reasonable doubt, committed espionage.
If she comes clean now, perhaps some leniency should be shown to her.
Our government has executed Americans for committing espionage.
Ignorant old bat.
There are 3 possible paths for her:
1) No indictment
2) Indicted, loses election, pleads guilty, buys POTUS pardon from Baraq
3) Indicted, wins election, pleads guilty, pardons herself
“The FBI has them.”
did anyone ever retrieve the 30 thousand emails Hillary deemed private and deleted?destroyed?
Actually, it is a heck of a dilemma.
Nearly 1 in 15 of her emails contain some form of classified information. There are emails FROM HER directing her aides to strip heading material off of documents so they could be sent to her electronically. So her claim of never sending classified over her unsecure unclassified private email server is pretty weak.
Security regulations are pretty clear concerning the responsibility that each clearance holder has to safeguard classified information from unauthorized disclosure whether or not it is properly marked.
There are really only two explanations for this situation:
1. She is too stupid to recognize classified information when she sees it, or
2. It was done deliberately.
We all know that she is “wicked smart” (to quote President Obama from her campaign ads on the Internet) , so that pretty well eliminates excuse No. 1. In passing, we should also note that she somehow managed not to have a State Department Inspector General for the first 5 ½ years of her term as Secretary of State. Very convenient if you are running classified material over your “home brew” email server.
So that leaves No.2 and the indictments that should flow from it. SHOULD.
Sources within the FBI are reporting the investigation is essentially complete and that the findings have been turned over to the Department of Justice. Attorney General Lynch has said that career prosecutors (implying they are non-political) are making the necessary assessment of the information. Unfortunately, political appointees and a corrupt White House are overseeing the process.
Tick Tock. Tick Tock.
Waiting this out until after the election is not an appealing option for DoJ or the White House. The longer the delay, the more political it looks. The longer the delay, the less time the party has to spin up Joe Biden as the alternative to Bernie Sanders. The longer the delay, the longer the Trump campaign (referred to in this week’s Rolling Stone edition as the “Trumpdozer”) will savage her, the DoJ, and the White House over the delay.
Tick Tock. Tick Tock.
So how do indictments before the convention play out? Problem is 1800+ classified emails is major felony territory. So no plea bargain with a slap on the wrist is going to be tolerated by the intelligence community, the FBI, and , we hope, those “career” prosecutors in the DoJ. Do the Clintonistas on the campaign staff who came over from State now throw themselves on their swords? Probably. However, since she said “No bank too big to fail! No person too big to jail!” , the woman of the hour is going to have to bear some responsibility, blame, and punishment as well. It will have to be significant or that to will look pretty suspicious.
Tick Tock. Tick Tock.
Some polling says that if Trump gets the nomination, he is nearly certain to win the election. (Yeah, Dewey thought the same thing in ’48.) Trump may wrap up the delegates needed tomorrow. After that, things will get really interesting.
So, facing indictment and a probable loss in the general election, what will Hillary do?
Personally, I think she will get sick, very very sick. So sick, in fact, that, despite her willingness to fight on, she must withdraw from the campaign under doctor’s orders and, in so doing, will endorse (eventually) Joe Biden as the person to lead the party to victory in November. (No, not Bernie. He polls even worse against Trump than she does.) The party now rallies around its new standard bearer.
She withdraws from public view. The white hot spotlight shifts to follow the new story. The indictments come down quietly and are dealt with quietly. Fines, really big ones, are levied. People lose their security clearances; some may even have to go to jail. But not for too long and they will be provided for afterwards. For Hillary, the fines and lose of security clearance are nothing. Sick as her doctor certifies she is, she will not see jail.
Tick Tock. Tick Tock.
Hillary slowly recovers and begins making speeches again, perhaps for not quite as much money as before. She eventually begins to resume work at the Clinton Foundation using her still considerable influence to broker deals that, among other things, make her very rich. She begins to groom Chelsey for as her surrogate.
The immediate crisis passes. For the moment, the Republic (or what passes for one these days) is safe.
Tick Tock. Tick Tock.
For now.
By its nature the office of Secretary of State requires looking at classical documents. The fact she avoided having a government account and handled everything on her personal account shows a deliberate attempt to violate the law.
Obama did not like her in 2008. Maybe she was being so flagrantly lawless in an attempt to make him like her.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.