Clinton Email Scandal: More Evidence State Department Was In On Cover-Up
Corruption: Last week it looked as if the State Department worked with Hillary Clinton to cover up her email trouble. This week it isn?t a question of involvement but rather how deeply the department was entangled.
During the Watergate scandal, one of the relevant questions asked by Tennessee Sen. Howard Baker was what did President Nixon know about the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters and when did he know it? Today a similar question should be asked of the State Department officials who allowed Clinton to use her personal email handled by a private server in her home:
When did the State Department realize her email was a problem and how far did it go to try to hide it?
A week ago we covered the State Department?s attempt to obscure the scandal by filing a secret court brief asking a federal judge to hide tens of thousands of Clinton?s emails. At issue, we said, were the 30,000 emails that Clinton generated while she was secretary of state ? and then deleted because she decided they were too personal for public consumption. Those emails have never been released.
They might have been, though, had the State Department not withheld a Benghazi email that was part of a Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act lawsuit asking for ?records related to the drafting and use of the Benghazi talking points.? Now that email, says Judicial Watch, has been located.
That ?found? email is germane because if it had been released when it was supposedly first discovered, ?Clinton?s email server and her hidden emails would have been disclosed nearly two years ago, before Clinton authorized the alleged deletion of tens of thousands of emails,? Judicial Watch explains.
In other words, the State Department bought Clinton time to delete the emails she didn?t want released, the ones that are surely the most revealing as to what she was up to as secretary of state, the ones she desperately wanted to hide. Those emails are almost certainly the reason she chose to use her personal account rather than a secure State Department setup.
U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth, who is presiding over one of Judicial Watch?s FOIA lawsuits, has said that the State Department has acted in bad faith in this case. Indeed, it appears to be acting as a hindrance whenever it can, in much the same way the IRS has done its best to obstruct any inquiries looking into its targeting of the Tea Party and conservative groups that were seeking nonprofit status. Officials at these government bureaus seem to think they are above the law.
That mindset was likely accelerated at the State Department with Clinton at the top. She and Bill have a history of behaving as if the law and rules were made for everyone but them. She and her aides could have chosen to use protected government email accounts but decided that the expectations that they would weren?t for them.
The Clintons have carried this attitude since at least the couple?s Arkansas years. Hillary?s above-the-law mentality has helped her maintain her ability to brush off questions about her email and brazenly claim that she?s never going to be indicted for being caught with classified material ? some of it top-secret ? in her accessible-to-the-world email. It?s why she and Bill have never feared scandal. They?ve considered themselves too big and too important to pay the consequences.
No one should have that luxury, because it generates abuse. The hope is the FBI will make sure that Hillary isn?t above the law and treat her acts as if they were committed by a low-level bureaucrat.
At the same time, it cannot forget those at the State Department who appear to have obstructed justice in covering up for Clinton. Former Speaker Dennis Hastert wasn?t above the law and they aren?t either.
Corruption: Last week it looked as if the State Department worked with Hillary Clinton to cover up her email trouble. This week it isn?t a question of involvement but rather how deeply the department was entangled.
During the Watergate scandal, one of the relevant questions asked by Tennessee Sen. Howard Baker was what did President Nixon know about the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters and when did he know it? Today a similar question should be asked of the State Department officials who allowed Clinton to use her personal email handled by a private server in her home:
When did the State Department realize her email was a problem and how far did it go to try to hide it?
A week ago we covered the State Department?s attempt to obscure the scandal by filing a secret court brief asking a federal judge to hide tens of thousands of Clinton?s emails. At issue, we said, were the 30,000 emails that Clinton generated while she was secretary of state ? and then deleted because she decided they were too personal for public consumption. Those emails have never been released.
They might have been, though, had the State Department not withheld a Benghazi email that was part of a Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act lawsuit asking for ?records related to the drafting and use of the Benghazi talking points.? Now that email, says Judicial Watch, has been located.
That ?found? email is germane because if it had been released when it was supposedly first discovered, ?Clinton?s email server and her hidden emails would have been disclosed nearly two years ago, before Clinton authorized the alleged deletion of tens of thousands of emails,? Judicial Watch explains.
In other words, the State Department bought Clinton time to delete the emails she didn?t want released, the ones that are surely the most revealing as to what she was up to as secretary of state, the ones she desperately wanted to hide. Those emails are almost certainly the reason she chose to use her personal account rather than a secure State Department setup.
U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth, who is presiding over one of Judicial Watch?s FOIA lawsuits, has said that the State Department has acted in bad faith in this case. Indeed, it appears to be acting as a hindrance whenever it can, in much the same way the IRS has done its best to obstruct any inquiries looking into its targeting of the Tea Party and conservative groups that were seeking nonprofit status. Officials at these government bureaus seem to think they are above the law.
That mindset was likely accelerated at the State Department with Clinton at the top. She and Bill have a history of behaving as if the law and rules were made for everyone but them. She and her aides could have chosen to use protected government email accounts but decided that the expectations that they would weren?t for them.
The Clintons have carried this attitude since at least the couple?s Arkansas years. Hillary?s above-the-law mentality has helped her maintain her ability to brush off questions about her email and brazenly claim that she?s never going to be indicted for being caught with classified material ? some of it top-secret ? in her accessible-to-the-world email. It?s why she and Bill have never feared scandal. They?ve considered themselves too big and too important to pay the consequences.
No one should have that luxury, because it generates abuse. The hope is the FBI will make sure that Hillary isn?t above the law and treat her acts as if they were committed by a low-level bureaucrat.
At the same time, it cannot forget those at the State Department who appear to have obstructed justice in covering up for Clinton. Former Speaker Dennis Hastert wasn?t above the law and they aren?t either.
