The 83 page report is in
The report from the independent investigation into handling of emails by the Secretaries of State from Madeleine Albright through Hillary Clinton has been issued. It is 83 pages of dry reading. But it confirms that any comparison between how Secretary Clinton and any of her predecessors handled their emails is a false equivalency.
On Secretary Albright, the report says that there were no records found to indicate that she used either State Department or personal email accounts to conduct official business.
Regarding Secretary Powell, the report says that he did not use an official State Department email account, but instead installed a personal laptop on his office desk. He used a personal email account. He did NOT use a private server located in his residence or anywhere else that was under his sole control.
In the case of Secretary Rice, the report says no evidence was found that she used email, official or personal, to conduct official business.
When it comes to Secretary Clinton the first thing that leaps out is that she was the only former Secretary of State who declined to be interviewed by the investigators examining this issue. In fact, of the 26 former members of her staff all but five refused to be interviewed or respond to requests for information.
So the takeaways are:
Clinton has been less than forthright and open about what's gone on.
Two members of her staff raised the issue that the use of the private server was improper and they were both admonished to never speak of the issue again.
She claimed that her use of the private server had been put through a legal review, a claim that appears to be baseless according to the report.
Did she do anything criminal? I suspect that the Federal Records Management Act was violated, and it was done knowingly. Is that a criminal act? Probably. Will she be prosecuted? Not while President Obama is in office.
All this being said, I will still vote for her over Donald Trump in November. She is clearly the lesser of the two evils we must choose between.
On Secretary Albright, the report says that there were no records found to indicate that she used either State Department or personal email accounts to conduct official business.
Regarding Secretary Powell, the report says that he did not use an official State Department email account, but instead installed a personal laptop on his office desk. He used a personal email account. He did NOT use a private server located in his residence or anywhere else that was under his sole control.
In the case of Secretary Rice, the report says no evidence was found that she used email, official or personal, to conduct official business.
When it comes to Secretary Clinton the first thing that leaps out is that she was the only former Secretary of State who declined to be interviewed by the investigators examining this issue. In fact, of the 26 former members of her staff all but five refused to be interviewed or respond to requests for information.
So the takeaways are:
Clinton has been less than forthright and open about what's gone on.
Two members of her staff raised the issue that the use of the private server was improper and they were both admonished to never speak of the issue again.
She claimed that her use of the private server had been put through a legal review, a claim that appears to be baseless according to the report.
Did she do anything criminal? I suspect that the Federal Records Management Act was violated, and it was done knowingly. Is that a criminal act? Probably. Will she be prosecuted? Not while President Obama is in office.
All this being said, I will still vote for her over Donald Trump in November. She is clearly the lesser of the two evils we must choose between.
posted by me at 3:59 PM
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