Hillary Clinton Wanted To Go Public About Outdated State Email System In 2011

[Gloria]

Source: Huffington Post, Amanda Terkel, Sr. Political Repo

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hillary-clinton-emails-state_560c4a18e4b0dd85030a8b40

A top adviser said government technology "is so antiquated that NO ONE uses a State-issued laptop."

Amanda Terkel
Senior Political Reporter, The Huffington Post

Posted: 09/30/2015 05:40 PM EDT | Edited: 1 hour ago

WASHINGTON -- In June 2011, Hillary Clinton and her top advisers bemoaned the outdated technology at the State Department, saying many officials had to use their personal email accounts in order to get any work done.

The email exchange, which came shortly after Google revealed that it suspected Chinese hackers tried to steal passwords of hundreds of Gmail users, including U.S. government officials, gives further insight into Clinton's decision to forego a government email account while serving as secretary of state. 

Anne-Marie Slaughter, who had served as the State Department's director of policy planning until February of that year, sent an email to Clinton and three of her top aides -- Huma Abedin, Cheryl Mills and Jake Sullivan -- arguing that the issue of the State Department's outdated technology needed to be highlighted:

I'm sure you've thought of this, but it would be a great time for someone inside or outside to make a statement/ write an op-ed that points out that State's technology is so antiquated that NO ONE uses a State-issued laptop and even high officials routinely end up using their home email accounts to be able to get their work done quickly and effectively. Further cuts to State's budget just makes matters much much worse. We actually need more funds to significantly upgrade our technology.

Clinton replied that her suggestion made "good sense."

"How should we follow up?" she asked.

Mills said she was a bit concerned about this approach, even though she was someone who had a hacking attempt on her account.

"I am not sure we want to telegraph how much folks do or don't do off state mail b/c it may encourage others who are out there," Mills wrote.

Slaughter replied that a better approach might be for Clinton to more quietly press the case through lawmakers.

The 2011 exchange is contained in the latest batch of emails released by the State Department Wednesday as part of a court order to make public emails from Clinton's personal server.

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Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hillary-clinton-emails-state_560c4a18e4b0dd85030a8b40

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from the latest batch of emails...

[Kingofalldems]

1. The Smoking Gun

This is just like---- Benghazi!!!

Looks like repubs fail again.

[CanadaexPat]

2. Did she follow-up?

[FlatBaroque]

4. Good question

A leader of a large organization, when confronted with such a critical problem could choose to either lead the organization through the necessary change, or to get her own server, and let the next guy or gal figure it out.

[jwirr]

7. Seems to me that this should have been revealed a long time

ago. At least within the system. So yes I want to know what has been done about it since and how many other sensitive areas are this vulnerable.

Everyone just using their own personal system does not sound like a future plan.

[jeff47]

3. If only she had held some position of influence at the state department. (nt)

[FlatBaroque]

5. .

[JoePhilly]

6. She should be approving vacation too!!!!!

The SecState should definitely be making all of the IT decisions ... at least we can agree on that!!!!

[jeff47]

8. That's a really pitiful retort.

The Secretary of State thinks State's email isn't good enough....so she should do absolutely nothing about it for anyone but herself.

[JoePhilly]

10. No no ... she should go down to the server lab, and take control!!!

I work for a high tech company.

The people who handle the IT are almost never in a meeting with the people running that company. The people in charge, like a SecState, delegate that to IT people. The SecState is far more concerned with what's happening in Syria, Libya, or some other part of the world.

The idea that the SecState is making ANY deep IT decisions is nonsense.

[jeff47]

11. Or instead of your pitiful strawman, she could tell State's CIO to fix it.

And then if he says "I don't have enough money", she could go talk to Congress.

You know, the people you claim will work so well with her if she wins the White House.

Hey look! No fucking moronic "I'll reconfigure the servers myself!!" strawman in a poor attempt to deflect.

[JoePhilly]

12. Your response is a giant strawman.

How does Hillary say "Fix it", when she's in no position technically to know what the "fix" would be??

There is NO SecState who understands the technical details on how email servers work, or are protected.

And when you pretend that Hillary should know such technical details your agenda becomes clear.

If Hillary learned there were issues, she was told be IT people. And she'd rely on those same IT people to come up with a solution.

The notion that any SecState would know such details is nonsense ... the stuff of a Straw-man, as you say.

[jeff47]

13. By saying "Fix it". She doesn't have to give any technical details

Happens all the time in businesses and government agencies. The non-technical management sets priorities, and asks the technical teams to implement them. Without giving any technical details, because they are the non-technical management.

Why would she need to know any technical details to say "This isn't working well enough"?

[JoePhilly]

14. Exactly ... you are making my point for me.

How would she know it was actually "fixed"?

She asked them to create a safe, protected environment ... whatever THEY thought that would be.

And they did that.

And now ... some want to attack her on what those IT folks actually did, as if she made those technical decisions.

Its nonsense.

[jeff47]

15. :facepalm:

Your posts are getting dumber and dumber.

How would she know it was actually "fixed"?

Email would start working in a timely fashion, reducing complaints from top State managers who actually report to her.

Seriously, that's your big "gotcha"? SMH

She asked them to create a safe, protected environment ... whatever THEY thought that would be.

And they did that.

Uh, no. She asked people who were not working for the State department to create a safe, protected environment for her.

So far, no one has released anything she said about State's IT, other than this email. Where she didn't take or propose any action. So she left the rest of State to deal with the crappy system, as far as we know.

News reports claim Kerry told the State CIO to fix it. Apparently, you think that means Kerry had to tell him the intimate details about how SMTP works.

[Evergreen Emerald]

25. Your adamacy that she should fix it shows a misunderstanding of government.

I work in a government entity. The lack of funding due to RW mismanagement of our government leaves us also with antiquated equipment.

It would cost millions to update government equipment. And you can't just update one entity without it affecting all. Budgets, contracts, prep, etc. play a part in it. It is a huge undertaking that is not Clinton's undertaking. All she can do is ask for better stuff, which is what she did.

For you to take this bit of information and twist it to sleep with the republicans rather than see it as proof that she did nothing wrong, shows me you are looking only for negative. And if you don't find it, you will make it up.

[Human101948]

26. Yes. Going to Congress would have been so effective...

They've been constantly asking how they could invest more in government agencies to improve efficiency.

I am a Bernie Sanders partisan. Yet I find the people on DU carrying water for the right wing very disturbing.

There is no substance to this "scandal."

[jeff47]

30. Then how'd Kerry fix it?

'Cause several different media reports say State's IT systems are working well now.

If Congress would refuse to pay for it, then that would be impossible.

There is no substance to this "scandal."

There's two places where there is substance. First, they completely botched the security on Clinton's server.

Second, finding TS/SCI is a big deal.

There are many people attempting to conflate her server with Benghazi, especially Clinton supporters. They are not at all related.

[karynnj]

28. HRC would not have made the IT decisions, but the decision that IT professionals had work to do

As the top person, she should have assigned someone high on her staff to initiate an effort to determine what the problems were and to have a tech team recommend how to revamp the system to correct the deficits that exist and to estimate the costs of doing this. That information would then have aided whoever had the responsibility of creating the budget for State Department administration in including that - or a variation of it - in the budget.

The Hillary aide who was assigned the effort would keep HRC informed every step of the way and would make sure that HRC had the back up needed to explain the need for this to the committees with oversight. (In the Senate, that committee was headed by Obama ally, Kerry -- in 2010, the House committee was headed by Berman. This could have started with excellent Congressional support.)

If you believe that IT is important, not addressing it and fixing it cuts into any creds she has as a good administrator.

[peacebird]

17. Winner! Perfect Response!

Now, did she follow up and attempt to make changes forthe agency she was leading? Or did she simply take care of Herself, with a private server, and let the 'little people' suffer with the inadequate service at state?

[madokie]

9. All of this is nothing but

republiCON witch hunts

Call off the fucking dogs already, jeeeze

[Kingofalldems]

16. Kicked, rec'd and tweeted.

[maxrandb]

18. This entire thing is the result of "Effing" Repukes "Drown it in the Bathtub" BS!!

They drastically cut spending at State, or think; "hell, what's wrong with their Atari level data systems...I "effing" bet that they even have TV's and Refrigerators, the "effing" takers"!!

Then they cut funding for overseas security...and when shit blows up in their faces, they fucking cry about the "incompetence of gubmint"

and, I'm sorry to beat a dead-horse...but they took fucking power during a god damn census year A CENSUS YEAR! where districts are redrawn for 10 years!!!!

It will be a fucking generation before we can get these ass-pickles out of power!

[SunSeeker]

20. ^^^THIS^^^

[former9thward]

21. The State Department seems to disagree with you.

Their budget has gone up every year.

http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/236395.pdf

[maxrandb]

29. ANd that sounds remarkably

like the typical right talking point.

I spent 30 years in the military, and we used to hear about how the defense budget kept going up, but there is a caveat. Say that we requested a 5% increase to upgrade our antiquated data systems, but in order to buy an LHD that no one wanted or needed, out tech upgrade was killed and the defense budget increased 2%.

Yes, you would correctly say that "the budget increased" each year, but that is too simplistic a way of looking at budgets.

It's the same argument as if inflation went up 3.5%, but wages, Social Security and unemployment were increased by .5%, and then arguing; "wages, social security and unemployment payments increased each year.

There is no doubt that were it not for sequestration, systems that needed upgrading, and security that needed to be "beefed-up", could have been.

You have no idea the number of "unfunded requirements" we had in the Defense Department because of Repiblican asshattery.

[former9thward]

32. So I am sure you will come up with that specific data

showing the specific cuts for the State Department. Or do you just wish to shout "right wing talking point" and run off?

[TexasBushwhacker]

33. Just because the budget goes up

they still have to spend the money wisely. The defense budget goes up all the time, but they spend too much on high tech jets and not enough on military members and veterans.

[Surya Gayatri]

22. maxrandb, your post wins this thread hands down, and takes the daily DU prize too!

[riversedge]

24. 1+

[SunSeeker]

19. K & R

[Surya Gayatri]

23. K & R for the reality check. Thanks Gloria!

[underthematrix]

27. The antiquated state IT system was reported

around the same time of this email exchange.

[riversedge]

31. Rec. and Thanks.