Hillary broke no secrecy laws

Read it and weep boys. Another perfectly good Clinton scandal down the tubes....

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/polit...xperts-say.ece

WASHINGTON — Experts in government secrecy law see almost no possibility of criminal action against Hillary Clinton or her top aides in connection with now-classified information sent over unsecure email while she was secretary of state, based on the public evidence thus far.

Some Republicans, including leading GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump, have called Clinton’s actions criminal and compared her situation to that of David Petraeus, the former CIA director who was prosecuted after giving “top secret” information to his paramour. Others have cited the case of another past CIA chief, John Deutch, who took highly classified material home.

But in both of those cases, no one disputed that the information was highly classified and in many instances top secret. Petraeus pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor; Deutch was pardoned by President Bill Clinton.

By contrast, there is no evidence of emails stored in Hillary Clinton’s private server bearing classified markings. State Department officials say they don’t believe that emails she sent or received included material classified at the time. And even if other government officials dispute that assertion, it is extremely difficult to prove anyone knowingly mishandled secrets.

“How can you be on notice if there are no markings?” said Leslie McAdoo, a lawyer who frequently handles security-clearance cases.

Clinton’s critics have focused on the unusual, home-brew email server Clinton used while in office and suggested that she should have known that secrets were improperly coursing through an unsecure system, leaving them easily hackable for foreign intelligence agencies. But to prove a crime, the government would have to demonstrate that Clinton or aides knew they were mishandling the information — not that she should have known.

A case would be possible if material emerges that is so sensitive Clinton must have known it was highly classified, whether marked or not, McAdoo said. But no such email has surfaced. And among the thousands of documents made public, nothing appears near the magnitude of the top secret material Petraeus and Deutch mishandled.

Trump, last week, argued differently, saying Petraeus’ case involved “far less important documents.” Clinton’s documents, he told Fox News, “were more highly secret, they were more important, there were more of them. It’s really General Petraeus on steroids.”

Petraeus, a married former four-star general who headed the CIA from 2011 to 2012, admitted he gave his biographer and lover, Paula Broadwell, journals containing top secret information. These included “the identities of covert officers, war strategy, intelligence capabilities and mechanisms, diplomatic discussions, quotes and deliberative discussions from high-level National Security Council meetings and discussions with the president of the United States,” according to court documents.
Petraeus also admitted lying to the FBI, while his emails showed he knew the journals contained highly classified information.

He pleaded guilty to one count of unauthorized removal and retention of classified material, a misdemeanor. Though eligible for up to one year in prison, he was sentenced to two years’ probation and a $100,000 fine. Broadwell didn’t publish the material.

Deutch ran the agency from 1995-1996. He took top secret information home and stored it on computers connected to the Internet, something he also did when he worked at the Pentagon. In January 2001, he agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of mishandling government secrets, but Bill Clinton pardoned him before the Justice Department could file the case.

Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential front-runner, now says her use of a home email server for government business was a mistake.

Two government inspectors have told Congress they found material in the emails that was secret at the time it was sent to Clinton and “never should have been transmitted via an unclassified personal system.”

The State Department and the Clinton campaign dispute that the material was classified at the time.

Although political controversy has centered on Clinton’s use of private email instead of a government account, the distinction matters little in the context of classified information. Clinton says State Department rules allowed her to use private email and officials knew about it.

But another law could be relevant. Under the Federal Records Act, destroying official records can be a crime. Clinton ordered around 32,000 emails deleted from her server because she said they were personal. The server was then wiped, making the emails unretrievable.

“If one person has a copy of one of those deleted emails, and it was about government business, the whole game changes,” said Kel McClanahan, a lawyer and expert in government records.
Ken Dilanian,

The Associated Press
The whole thing was cooked up anyway, because the fucktards are scared shitless of her winning. Looking at their clown car full of idiots, I'd be scared too.
Well, she fucked up, no doubt about it. But, it wasn't criminal and nobody is going to prison. Whether it hurts her chances to be the next POTUS is up in the air. It certainly hasn't helped.

Now.....Back to Bhengazi! Get Issa out here.....
lustylad's Avatar
Hey Timmy,

The quotes at the end from the two govt inspectors and the lawyer/expert are not very encouraging for her apologists.

Care to comment on this column I posted today in the "Dead Candidate Walking" thread?

http://eccie.net/showpost.php?p=1057...&postcount=251

.
Hey Timmy,

The quotes at the end from the two govt inspectors and the lawyer/expert are not very encouraging for her apologists.

Care to comment on this column I posted today in the "Dead Candidate Walking" thread?

http://eccie.net/showpost.php?p=1057...&postcount=251

. Originally Posted by lustylad
Clever, I suppose.... if you accept that the analogy is a good one...and I don't. The CEO of A. Madison presided over an event that resulted in the destruction of the company.

How is that analogous to HRC? I guess if you only read Breitbart or watch only Fox News, you might think she's done.....but, news flash buddy: there are still an awful lot of people who are going to vote for her to be the Dem nominee and for POTUS if she gets the nomination.
lustylad's Avatar
Clever, I suppose.... if you accept that the analogy is a good one...and I don't. Originally Posted by timpage
Forget about the Ashley Madison analogy then... the big question is - why did she require a private server in the first place? Nobody else in govt would even ask for that. Her inability to answer that question without lying should trouble everyone.

And I'd like to know who on the Obama transition team knew about it when she set it up back in 2008/09.
.
government information is classified ab initio

its deemed secret until declassified

has nothing to do with markings

satellite information etc is deemed classified
Forget about the Ashley Madison analogy then... the big question is - why did she require a private server in the first place? Nobody else in govt would even ask for that. Her inability to answer that question without lying should trouble everyone.

And I'd like to know who on the Obama transition team knew about it when she set it up back in 2008/09.
. Originally Posted by lustylad

For the same reason you call yourself LustyLadd on here rather than posting up under your real name....she wanted privacy. I'm not defending it by the way but, I completely understand it.

One example: the email that came to light the other day sent by Blumenthal where he refers to Boehner as an alcoholic, among other unflattering things. Those email were written with the expectation that they would never become public.

Frankly, the way it's been handled since the existence of the servers became public knowledge has been far more damaging than the existence of the servers themselves. Which is the way it usually goes. The reason she doesn't want everybody looking at that email is the same reason you and I don't want anybody looking at ours. While 90% of my email communication relates to work or a simple exchange of information, some of it is private, contains private thoughts, or embarrassing personal details. If we were all smart, we would realize that communicating via email isn't the same as sitting around having a beer but when you communicate via email all day long, every day, you forget that it's the internet and that somebody who you never intended to see that email might end up seeing it. For you and me, that's just embarrassing. For Hillary Clinton, it potentially damages her chances of becoming POTUS.

I don't fault her for the thought....but, the execution has been pretty fucking sloppy.
WTF's Avatar
  • WTF
  • 09-02-2015, 04:22 PM

Frankly, the way it's been handled since the existence of the servers became public knowledge has been far more damaging than the existence of the servers themselves. Which is the way it usually goes. The reason she doesn't want everybody looking at that email is the same reason you and I don't want anybody looking at ours. While 90% of my email communication relates to work or a simple exchange of information, some of it is private, contains private thoughts, or embarrassing personal details. If we were all smart, we would realize that communicating via email isn't the same as sitting around having a beer but when you communicate via email all day long, every day, you forget that it's the internet and that somebody who you never intended to see that email might end up seeing it. For you and me, that's just embarrassing. For Hillary Clinton, it potentially damages her chances of becoming POTUS.

I don't fault her for the thought....but, the execution has been pretty fucking sloppy. Originally Posted by timpage
Correct...much the same reason Tom Brady would not hand over his text messages to the NFL.

Now am I gonna vote for Hillary? Fuck no but it ain't because of this bullshit.

Her Iraq vote and the fucking Clinton Foundation while SoS crap is not Kosher for me.
JD Barleycorn's Avatar
Actually I like the title that Timmie chose. "...broke no SECRECY laws...". Yep, that says everything you need to know about what goes on inside Timmie's mind...unless he was repeating what he was told to say. You have to notice that he did not write that Hillary broke NO laws, no, he wrote that Hillary broke no SECRECY laws. So Hillary has broken some laws and Timmie knows inside his own mind. What laws? Regulations, orders, directives. Hillary while working for the State Department used a long time Clinton staffer to funnel cash into the Clinton Global Initative using the promise of State Department assistance. Money came in from various countries including some very bad characters. Of course, that money went to charity, the Clinton's favorite charity, themselves. I do believe that Hillary broke secrecy laws (you can't transmit spy satellite intell) and she broke many other laws involving her time as the SOS.
JD Barleycorn's Avatar
For the same reason you call yourself LustyLadd on here rather than posting up under your real name....she wanted privacy. I'm not defending it by the way but, I completely understand it.

One example: the email that came to light the other day sent by Blumenthal where he refers to Boehner as an alcoholic, among other unflattering things. Those email were written with the expectation that they would never become public.

Frankly, the way it's been handled since the existence of the servers became public knowledge has been far more damaging than the existence of the servers themselves. Which is the way it usually goes. The reason she doesn't want everybody looking at that email is the same reason you and I don't want anybody looking at ours. While 90% of my email communication relates to work or a simple exchange of information, some of it is private, contains private thoughts, or embarrassing personal details. If we were all smart, we would realize that communicating via email isn't the same as sitting around having a beer but when you communicate via email all day long, every day, you forget that it's the internet and that somebody who you never intended to see that email might end up seeing it. For you and me, that's just embarrassing. For Hillary Clinton, it potentially damages her chances of becoming POTUS.

I don't fault her for the thought....but, the execution has been pretty fucking sloppy. Originally Posted by timpage
How many public servants have been fired for so much less including some people who worked for Hillary? You say anything on a server that you don't own and it is gone. It is no longer yours, it belongs to the person who owns the server. So Hillary, a shallow thinker at best, decides...I need my own server. There are rules but rules are for lesser people and not Hillary. The rest is made up shit Timmie.
Forget about the Ashley Madison analogy then... the big question is - why did she require a private server in the first place? Nobody else in govt would even ask for that. Her inability to answer that question without lying should trouble everyone.

And I'd like to know who on the Obama transition team knew about it when she set it up back in 2008/09.
. Originally Posted by lustylad
Why? It was not unauthorized, which is one of the hurdles. Federal law allows a personal email to be used as long as documents are preserved. The law about emails being on govt servers was enacted after she left office.
For the same reason you call yourself LustyLadd on here rather than posting up under your real name....she wanted privacy. I'm not defending it by the way but, I completely understand it.

One example: the email that came to light the other day sent by Blumenthal where he refers to Boehner as an alcoholic, among other unflattering things. Those email were written with the expectation that they would never become public.

Frankly, the way it's been handled since the existence of the servers became public knowledge has been far more damaging than the existence of the servers themselves. Which is the way it usually goes. The reason she doesn't want everybody looking at that email is the same reason you and I don't want anybody looking at ours. While 90% of my email communication relates to work or a simple exchange of information, some of it is private, contains private thoughts, or embarrassing personal details. If we were all smart, we would realize that communicating via email isn't the same as sitting around having a beer but when you communicate via email all day long, every day, you forget that it's the internet and that somebody who you never intended to see that email might end up seeing it. For you and me, that's just embarrassing. For Hillary Clinton, it potentially damages her chances of becoming POTUS.

I don't fault her for the thought....but, the execution has been pretty fucking sloppy. Originally Posted by timpage
And for her to have the number of emails she had over 4 years or so, she would have had to average 20 personal emails a day. That's entirely within the realm of possibility for someone in her position.

Tim, this is the most reasoned response and explanation I've read about it.
Actually I like the title that Timmie chose. "...broke no SECRECY laws...". Yep, that says everything you need to know about what goes on inside Timmie's mind...unless he was repeating what he was told to say. You have to notice that he did not write that Hillary broke NO laws, no, he wrote that Hillary broke no SECRECY laws. So Hillary has broken some laws and Timmie knows inside his own mind. What laws? Regulations, orders, directives. Hillary while working for the State Department used a long time Clinton staffer to funnel cash into the Clinton Global Initative using the promise of State Department assistance. Money came in from various countries including some very bad characters. Of course, that money went to charity, the Clinton's favorite charity, themselves. I do believe that Hillary broke secrecy laws (you can't transmit spy satellite intell) and she broke many other laws involving her time as the SOS. Originally Posted by JD Barleycorn
You have no proof for the highlighted portion. Let's stick to what we can prove. I know you want it to be true with all your heart, but that's not going to make it so.
How many public servants have been fired for so much less including some people who worked for Hillary? You say anything on a server that you don't own and it is gone. It is no longer yours, it belongs to the person who owns the server. So Hillary, a shallow thinker at best, decides...I need my own server. There are rules but rules are for lesser people and not Hillary. The rest is made up shit Timmie. Originally Posted by JD Barleycorn
You know, he came with a reasoned response and you're still a fucking asshole. Having her own server was not against the rules.