How The State Department Caved To Hillary Clinton’s Lawyer On Classified Emails

[cali]

The State Department put up virtually no resistance when Hillary Clinton’s private lawyer requested to keep copies of her emails—even though those emails contained classified information, and even though it was unclear whether the attorney was cleared to see such secrets.

Experts on the handling of classified information tell The Daily Beast that the seemingly chummy arrangement between Clinton’s lawyer and her former State Department aides was “quite unusual.”

Newly released documents, obtained by The Daily Beast in coordination with the James Madison Project under the Freedom of Information Act, include legal correspondence and internal State Department communications about Clinton’s emails. Those documents provide new details about how officials tried to accommodate the former secretary of state and presidential candidate.

<snip>

“The arrangement with Kendall was far from the norm,” Steven Aftergood, an expert on classification and security policy at the Federation of American Scientists, told The Daily Beast. “There are a number of attorneys around who handle clients and cases involving classified information. They are almost never allowed to retain classified material in their office, whether they have a safe or not. Sometimes they are not even allowed to review the classified information, even if they are cleared for it, because an agency will say they don’t have a ‘need to know.’ In any event, the deference shown to Mr. Kendall by the State Department was quite unusual.”

<snip>

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/01/15/how-the-state-department-caved-to-hillary-clinton-s-lawyer-on-classified-emails.html

[merrily]

1. Dem Kerry's State Department caved to the former Dem Secretary who is running for Prez?

[karynnj]

7. The people handling this were career foreign service

Patrick Kennedy entered the foreign service in 1973 and worked various jobs before becoming the under secretary of management. It really seems they got blind sided by believing Clinton that there was nothing classified on the server before gradually learning the breath of the problem.

I suspect people would have been even more suspicious had Clinton's email problem been handled by a political appointee. Long after this - as they expanded the department that usually did this - adding 50 people to the 12 there, they hired another government professional to manage the entire thing.

This is a mess that Clinton left for the state department. They have worked hard to professionally redact information that should not be public while getting all the emails Clinton gave them online. In fact, from day one this has been a no win proposition -- when everything is out - I will bet the issue will change to the fact that in 2014 - at least a year and as many as 5 years after an email was written, the Clinton people had the ability to include it or not include it in the 55000 emails given the State Department.

[merrily]

8. When I posted Reply 1, I had a feeling you would respond to it. Nice to see you.

It's been a while.

[karynnj]

10. Hi - nice to see you too

Plus your comment was fair and likely what many will see. The idea that the Secretary should sign off on every decision made by the large department is unrealistic - and if he were doing so on Clinton's email - it would open him to just these charges.

What has been clear is that he has deferred to the State IG on this whole issue - other than to repeatedly say that he wants the department to do a professional job on this. I would assume that he was not all that happy with the mess HRC left.

One thing I have no one mention is that each batch of emails is supposed to come out on the last day of each month. This month is the last batch -- and January 31 is - of course - the day before February 1 aka Iowa caucus day. How's that for awkward?

[merrily]

11. We may have to agree to disagree on whether things like this get run past the Secretary.

Not every decision, no. But, we are not discussing every decision. We are talking only about a situation involving potential breaches of national security by a person who is both (a) his immediate predecessor as Secretary of State and (b) his party's presumptive Presidential nominee.

Still nice to see you, though. I hope you've been well and still enjoying Vermont.

[karynnj]

15. Still love Vermont and love that Bernie Sanders had a role in making Burlington the incredible place

to live that it is.

[merrily]

16. Glad to hear that you still love it, esp. after last winter. nt

[Wilms]

2. How can she be so reckless?

It's as though she goes out of her way to damage herself. And to what end?

It's really no fun having a member of the party acting out all the time.

After the conventions, it will be the first time in 36 long years that there are no bushes or Clintons on the national stage.

[Divernan]

3. A political scene without Clintons Inc. is Paradise enow!

To wake in the morning,
Go on the internet
And not dread what fresh hell hath Hillary/Bill/Chelsea/The Clinton Family Foundation wrought!


A Book of Verses underneath the Bough,
A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread-and Thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness-
O, Wilderness were Paradise enow!

[merrily]

4. 36 years! From your keyboard to the ears of voters, caucusers, etc.

[CorporatistNation]

14. We Can ONLY Hope.. Beware... There Will Be Plenty Of "Shenanigans" On The Incorporated Side

in Iowa... Have to watch out for Clinton Inc. shipping in "ringers" little ole ladies from out of town... Maybe Chicago... Obama might have some connections from 2008... And Hillary has said that she has former Obama people on her team, "volunteers" etc....

[razorman]

18. That, at least, will be a relief.

I think that most of the country is tired of, and skeptical of, dynasties. Whether the name is Bush, Clinton, Kennedy, Obama, or whatever; I think that people are against the idea that someone deserves to be president simply because they have a certain last name. That is a large part of the reason Jeb is doing so poorly in his reach for the GOP nomination.

[baldguy]

5. "Benghazi!"

[cali]

6. Like that has anything to do with the op. Lame.

[merrily]

9. When it comes to Hillary, some seem to conflate "Benghazi" with "Abracadabra."

[baldguy]

17. If you can't recognize Darryl Issa's favorite subject

and that the resulting attacks are built upon bullshit - then you're lost farther down the Republican rabbit hole than I've feared.

[randome]

12. 'No resistance' and 'quite unusual' equals 'caved'?

Meh.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]"If you're bored then you're boring." -Harvey Danger[/center][/font][hr]

[cali]

13. No resistance in this context certainly does.