Back when I did that sort of thing, I used a STU-III, and it was inconvenient, it was less clear than an open line, and it was slower. I never would have considered using an open line for classified discussions. Even though I assume today’s version is much better, Hillary obviously didn’t care how many people died from her actions. What mattered was her comfort and her advancement. I wonder how many deaths directly resulted from Hillary’s lack of interest in security. Liberals like her (and her supporters) disgust me.
I used STU-IIIs for much of my career, and the technology steadily improved. In the early days of the system (late 80s), the units were large and it sometimes took two or three attempts to get the phones synchronized, encrypted and secure. On other occasions, there would be distortion on the line, suggesting the synch wasn’t quite right, so you’d hang up and try again.
But the technology improved steadily and the STUs in service when I left the spook world (2008) were vastly improved. Just place the call, push the button to “go secure,” then watch the display to confirm that the connection had been established and the classification level the network could support.
It would take a fair degree of technical incompetence/stupidity to be unable to operate a STU-III. But then again, Hillary is anything but tech-savvy, as evidenced by her inability to operate a fax machine and how long have they been around? Not exactly cutting-edge technology.
Then again, sending faxes, setting up secure calls and similar chores are tasks for the little people. Why should anyone expect Queen HRC to know how to operate a STU-III or secure Blackberry?