Earlier today, Hillary Clinton sat down with CNN’s Jake Tapper for a 20-minute interview, where her email server was brought up. During the Democratic debate, Sen. Bernie Sanders gave a nice assist to Clinton when he said he was tired of hearing about her "damn emails," which drew a roaring round of applause from the audience–and the media apparently. So, I guess that’s why she felt she could say that her private email server, which possibly placed our national security in harm's way as it was vulnerable to hacking, was allowed. In Clinton's eyes, this system, which was in direct violation of the 2009 National Archives and Records Administration’s regulation that stated all electronic communications must be preserved, was permitted because the State Department said so, even though no one signed off on it. Oh, and one of her predecessors did the exact same thing.
CNN’s JAKE TAPPER: “And you said it was allowed, too.”HILLARY CLINTON: “Yes, it was.”
TAPPER: “Who allowed it?”
CLINTON: “It was allowed under the rules of the state department. And, again…”
TAPPER: “So nobody signed off on it?”
CLINTON: “No, it was allowed. You know, one of my predecessors did the same thing. Others in our government have done the same thing at very high levels because the rules did change after I left state department. But at the time and in prior years the rules allowed it.”
Clinton even laughed off the FBI investigation into her server, which now includes whether she violated portions of the Espionage Act. We know it was vulnerable to hacking, and that a federal judge said her email system was not allowed. President Obama even said that questions over her email arrangement was a legitimate issue, though he threw something of a lifeline by saying that it’s being politicized. Ever since Clinton turned the server over to the Justice Department in August, they’ve found over 300 emails that were flagged for having sensitive material on them. They also found that there was at least one attempt to wipe the server clean.
As Guy pointed out this week, Clinton peddled the “it was allowed, okay” position in another interview with a local NBC-affiliated station, where the reporter noted that Platte River Networks, which took over managing her server after she left State, said that if they had known State Department-level material was going to be sent through this server; they would have suggested a different arrangement.
Prior to Platte River, State Department staffer Bryan Pagliano, who also maintained the system until Clinton left government, set up Hillary’s server. Clinton paid him personally for his services.
Clinton responded by saying the usual; it was allowed at the time, she’s transparent, and that “nothing I sent or received was marked classified at the time. That is an absolute fact.” Needless to say, Guy took Clinton’s narrative to the woodshed:
From "no classified material" (false), to "no material that was classified at the time" (false), to "I didn't send or receive the material personally" (false) to "it wasn't *marked* classified at the time."[…]
Under the law, it was her duty to recognize and protect classified information -- and even the average layperson could instantly intuit that top secret details about North Korean nukes, or secret updates on the Iranian negotiations, or the identity of a CIA asset in Libya very obviously constituted classified data, both at the time and ever since. She is incapable of telling the truth on this issue because the truth could place her in further legal jeopardy. Hillary Clinton, her "competitor" Bernie Sanders, and much of the Democratic base believes this is a non-issue that should go away. Two Obama administration Inspectors General, the FBI, and most voters disagree.
It was also discovered that the information sent through the server at the time when Platte Rover took over, was also being stored on a cloud drive with a Connecticut IT firm called Datto, Inc. More of her personal emails could be found, but given the circumstances and apparent lack of respect for the protocol involved with classified information, it’s no wonder why a) the national security community is scared about a Clinton presidency as they follow stringent protocols in this matter b) reinforces the notion that Hillary follows her own rules–federal regulations be damned. She may laugh it off, but it’s hurting her. Democratic women thinks she’s isn’t being truthful about the server, which is why they’re fleeing from her.
Last Note: There's still the allegation that Clinton's inner circle removed the classification markers on some of the emails, which is a felony.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member