The watchdog Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) came up with a few questions for Hillary Clinton during tonight's Democratic debate, but don’t expect them to be asked by moderator Lester Holt. FACT executive director, former U.S. Attorney Matthew Whitaker, said in a statement that “The American people deserve answers because these questions speak to the very heart of trust and ensuring national security, especially for someone who wants to be President…with the first votes set to be cast in a few weeks, getting some answers Sunday night in Charleston is a good place to start.”
These questions revolve around the use of her private email system, which reached new levels of intrigue when it was released that she instructed an aide to remove the classified markers on a sensitive document and send it to her through an unsecured channel.
- At different times during the investigation into emails you kept on a private server in your home, you have pled ignorance to how to use devices, ignorance about wiping a server, and ignorance to keeping your server secure. Authorities have since found your server was not secure, and at risk of being hacked by foreign intelligence agencies. How can people trust you to ensure their personal safety and security – as well as the security of the country – when you’ve admittedly been ignorant about security risks with your own email and those risks have been shown to be serious?
- There are multiple examples of overlap of Clinton Foundation and State Department business. How did you determine whether you and your aides’ emails were personal or official in nature?
- Your own emails reveal that you routinely gave preferential treatment to people with which you had financial and family ties, including George Soros, Bill and Melinda Gates and your son-in-law. Average Americans don’t get this kind of access to the State Department, why did you give such access to these individuals?
- Providing special access to political and other donors is a blatant violation of ethics rules. As a lawyer you understand this. Why did you not comply with these rules?
- You have said you did not send or receive information marked classified, but a new batch of your emails revealed that you instructed a top adviser on how to send secure information outside secure channels. Doesn’t this show you were completely aware of classified material getting passed by email?
- You were presumably aware of the Freedom of Information Act and your duty to preserve your emails. Why then did you only provide your emails to the State Department upon an investigation and request?
- Last year, your lawyer David Kendall asked the State Department if he could keep a copy of the 55,000 pages of emails you had sent, which included classified information, and reportedly the State Department consented. Don’t you think it’s reckless to allow classified information to potentially fall in the hands of people who do not have authorized access?
- If you were President, would you ever let anyone in your administration use a personal email or private server?
Also, don’t expect many people to watch, given that this debate was scheduled on the same day as key NFL playoff games. Does anyone want to watch a Democratic debate afterwards? Steelers and Seahawks fans are mourning their losses, while the Panthers and the Broncos celebrate their victories tonight. It’s Sunday–and no one is watching this debate. Hence, the low viewership, and the accusation that the debate schedule is meant to help Hillary. The Democratic Party only scheduled six debates, and that schedule was meant to “maximize” attention for the Democratic field, according to Democratic National Committee chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL). Half of them are on weekends.
Editor's Note: I got the number of Democratic debates wrong. My apologies, folks.
