Seems like we are split down the middle on this board. Some thinks there's nothing to it while others think it's a smoking gun.
Some have cited other SOS doing the same and I believe some governors conducting business like this.
So, is there something here in your opinion and why?
The problem is there are multiple layers to this issue and depending on what you are focusing on, your opinion will be influenced. The pro-Clinton forces are focusing strictly on the server and the email account and citing that it was perfectly acceptable for her to have these and use these as Secretary of State. They are correct. However, that is not what the problem is. The issue is that she was using a private server that was not encrypted and was not kept in a secure location and this server was storing classified and sensitive information. That is a violation of the Espionage Act and is a felony crime.
Remember, David Petraeus was prosecuted for violation of the Espionage Act by simply keeping his personal calendar in a locked desk drawer at his home and the calendar listed some classified names. He was able to plea down to a misdemeanor to avoid jail time. Hillary had over 60,000 emails on this un-encrypted server which most likely was hacked by multiple foreign governments. As of right now their were emails identified by the US Inspector General that did have classified status. This is why it was turned over to the Justice Department and the FBI for formal investigation. There are now reports that up to 300+ emails so far have been identified as "problematic". Remember, Petraeus was prosecuted for one count. She is potentially looking at 300+ counts so far.
The final layer of this problem is now with the 30,000 emails on her server that she claimed were personal and not subject to FOIA requests which she proceeded to delete and then wipe the server. The FBI now has the server and will run forensic analysis of the server. If they pull up any of these deleted emails and they turn out to be public and even worse, classified, then she is really in a world of hurt. She would then be subject to obstruction of justice charges along with contempt of Congress, obstruction of a Congressional investigation and criminal perjury to go along with her Espionage Act violations. I would be very nervous if I was her.
Based on what the facts are at present, I think that she will definitely be brought up on charges for violating the Espionage Act. Remember that one of the mandatory penalties that come with a guilty verdict of the Espionage Act, is the permanent ban from holding any elected public office at the federal, state, or local levels.
What will the political impact be. Who knows. There is a group of supporters that will vote for her even if she adopted
Mein Kampf for her campaign platform. What this does show is a great deal of incompetence on her part. Also her continued lies and complete butchering of the fact line on all of this is bad. When a recent poll of registered voters in Pennsylvania, Florida, and Ohio was taken earlier this week and 2/3 of respondents said they found her untrustworthy and dishonest, that does not bode well for you to win the general election considering it comes down to winning those three states. Her cavalier comments about the Snap Chat account and then mocking Ed Henry's question about wiping the server when she asks "with a cloth", is really starting to insult peoples intelligence. It doesn't help when you have liberal columnists from the
New York Times and
Washington Post saying the same thing. Bob Woodward has now said this scandal is the closest thing he has seen to Watergate. I think it will be tough for anyone to convince Americans that Bob Woodward is now part of the "Right Wing Conspiracy" that she blames for everything.
