ABC grills HRC about emails. IF pers emails so important why didnt anybody investigate Colin Powell?

[Bill USA]

ABC news ran an interview of Clinton tonight, which of course, was mostly about why she used a personal email account, why didn't she recognize emails that would be classified in the future, why she is saying 'sorry' now, but didn't say 'sorry' two weeks ago. ad infinitum...

ABC news asked viewers to send them comments on FB or twitter. Well, you can use a Disqus to leave a comment too.

Here is the web-page: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/hillary-clinton-private-email-mistake-im/story?id=33608970

I think it would be nice if a few thousand democrats (small 'd' intentional) asked ABC: [font size="+1"] Why, if use of a personal email account or server is so important why didn't anybody ask Colin Powell about it when he did exactly what HRC did? Why didn't Corporate media keep asking Colin Powell why he was doing something sooo nefarious? -("What, you ask for evidence of nefarious activities ... Fuck evidence! were the GOP's M$M. Weeeee don't need no stinking evidence!&quot [/font]

Could it be cuzz Powell wasn't a Democrat running for president?? Could Corporate media be doing their part to help their party get rid of their most feared Democrat?


Here's some more for background:

FLASHBACK: When Millions Of Lost Bush White House Emails (From Private Accounts) Triggered A Media Shrug

Even for a Republican White House that was badly stumbling through George W. Bush's sixth year in office, the revelation on April 12, 2007 was shocking. Responding to congressional demands for emails in connection with its investigation into the partisan firing of eight U.S. attorneys, the White House announced that as many as five million emails, covering a two-year span, had been lost.

The emails had been run through private accounts controlled by the Republican National Committee and were only supposed to be used for dealing with non-administration political campaign work to avoid violating ethics laws. Yet congressional investigators already had evidence private emails had been used for government business, including to discuss the firing of one of the U.S. attorneys. The RNC accounts were used by 22 White House staffers, including then-Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, who reportedly used his RNC email for 95 percent of his communications.

As the Washington Post reported, "Under federal law, the White House is required to maintain records, including e-mails, involving presidential decision- making and deliberations." But suddenly millions of the private RNC emails had gone missing; emails that were seen as potentially crucial evidence by Congressional investigators.

The White House email story broke on a Wednesday. Yet on that Sunday's Meet The Press, Face The Nation, and Fox News Sunday, the topic of millions of missing White House emails did not come up. At all. (The story did get covered on ABC's This Week.)
(more)

Colin Powell relied on personal emails while secretary of state

Like Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of State Colin Powell also used a personal email account during his tenure at the State Department, an aide confirmed in a statement.

“He was not aware of any restrictions nor does he recall being made aware of any over the four years he served at State,” the statement says. “He sent emails to his staff generally via their State Department email addresses. These emails should be on the State Department computers. He might have occasionally used personal email addresses, as he did when emailing to family and friends.”

Powell’s statement comes after The New York Times reported that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used a personal account while at the State Department, and the department acknowledged that thousands of emails Clinton generated during her tenure were not archived as official government records. The Times story also mentioned that Powell “used personal email to communicate with American officials and ambassadors and foreign leaders.”

The statement continues: “He did not take any hard copies of emails with him when he left office and has no record of the emails. They were all unclassified and mostly of a housekeeping nature. He came into office encouraging the use of emails as a way of getting the staff to embrace the new 21st information world.”
(more)

Or you can just sit silently by while the GOP's whores of M$M carry the pitchforks for the GOP and run riot with McCarthyism.

[Motown_Johnny]

1. Powell did not do exactly what Hillary did.

The fact that this needs to be misrepresented is very telling. What she did is indefensible so in order to defend it it must be misrepresented.

email section starts at about 14:10

He used 2 email systems, the way Hillary now admits she should have.

[VanillaRhapsody]

3. Baloney...

Faux scandal...

[cherokeeprogressive]

5. Where did Colin Powell keep his server?

[Bill USA]

10. he used a commercial email providers servers - much worse

Verizon 2015 DATA BREACH INVESTIGATIONS REPORT
http://higherlogicdownload.s3.amazonaws.com/GOVERNANCEPROFESSIONALS/26582a95-d501-4284-afd8-8e18fa9426a2/UploadedImages/Landing%20Page%20Documents/DBIR%20Executive%20Summary%20vv%204-10-15.pdf

The Verizon 2015 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) provides a detailed analysis of almost 80,000 incidents, including 2,122 confirmed data breaches. This summary covers some of our key findings.

[cherokeeprogressive]

14. Okay then... you tell ME why no one investigated Colin Powell.

[Raine1967]

19. He not a Democrat and he's not Hillary Clinton.

I have issues with this server story — far more than the emails, but if you wanted an answer, I am giving you two reasons.

[Bill USA]

27. because he was not the GOP's most feared Democrat running for the presidency. IT's McCarthyism for

a campaign - one that lacks candidates and policies the American people will vote for. Okay, there are Republican suckers who will vote for one of your twits, nut-jobs or extremists, but not enough to win the Presidency. - of course, I shouldn't rule out the GOP's expertise at voter suppression and rigging voting machines - that could make the difference as it did in 2000.

[leveymg]

29. Because the Presidential Order that defines "presumed classified" wasn't issued until 2009. Here:

The President determines what is to be treated as "classified materials" through issuance of Executive Orders (EOs). This is in turn interpreted by the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO), which determines that there is cause for each agency to initiate administrative proceedings to strip a federal official of his/her security clearance. By the way, the source of the the Reuters analysis linked below is the previous head of the ISOO.

Read more: (Reuters) http://www.aol.com/article/2015/08/21/exclusive-dozens-of-clinton-emails-were-classified-from-the-sta/21225607/

This sort of information, which the department says Clinton both sent and received in her emails, is the only kind that must be "presumed" classified, in part to protect national security and the integrity of diplomatic interactions, according to U.S. regulations examined by Reuters.

"It's born classified," said J. William Leonard, a former director of the U.S. government's Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO). Leonard was director of ISOO, part of the White House's National Archives and Records Administration, from 2002 until 2008, and worked for both the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations.

"If a foreign minister just told the secretary of state something in confidence, by U.S. rules that is classified at the moment it's in U.S. channels and U.S. possession," he said in a telephone interview, adding that for the State Department to say otherwise was "blowing smoke."

Executive Order 13526 - Classified National Security Information

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/executive-order-classified-national-security-information
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
December 29, 2009
Executive Order 13526- Classified National Security Information

This order prescribes a uniform system for classifying, safeguarding, and declassifying national security information, including information relating to defense against transnational terrorism.

. . .

(4) the original classification authority determines that the unauthorized disclosure of the information reasonably could be expected to result in damage to the national security, which includes defense against transnational terrorism, and the original classification authority is able to identify or describe the damage.

(b) If there is significant doubt about the need to classify information, it shall not be classified. This provision does not:

(1) amplify or modify the substantive criteria or procedures for classification; or

(2) create any substantive or procedural rights subject to judicial review.

(c) Classified information shall not be declassified automatically as a result of any unauthorized disclosure of identical or similar information.

(d) The unauthorized disclosure of foreign government information is presumed to cause damage to the national security.

[Bill USA]

32. The Hillary Clinton e-mail ‘scandal’ that isn’t - david ignatious

The Hillary Clinton e-mail ‘scandal’ that isn’t

Does Hillary Clinton have a serious legal problem because she may have transmitted classified information on her private e-mail server? After talking with a half-dozen knowledgeable lawyers, I think this “scandal” is overstated. Using the server was a self-inflicted wound by Clinton, but it’s not something a prosecutor would take to court.
[font size="+1"]
“It’s common” that people end up using unclassified systems to transmit classified information, said Jeffrey Smith, a former CIA general counsel who’s now a partner at Arnold & Porter, where he often represents defendants suspected of misusing classified information.

“There are always these back channels,” Smith explained. “It’s inevitable, because the classified systems are often cumbersome and lots of people have access to the classified e-mails or cables.” People who need quick guidance about a sensitive matter often pick up the phone or send a message on an open system. They shouldn’t, but they do.

“It’s common knowledge that the classified communications system is impossible and isn’t used,” said one former high-level Justice Department official. Several former prosecutors said flatly that such sloppy, unauthorized practices, although technically violations of law, wouldn’t normally lead to criminal cases.[/font]
(more)

if you GOPers didn't have McCArthyism what would you do for a campaign!

[leveymg]

34. This is the first time a federal official has systematically avoided federal law and EO and claimed

that "it was allowed," and the next day that she's "responsible", while continuing to deny that any law was ever broken, while expecting the public to believe it's routine and just a difference of opinion.

The operative term here is "systematic avoidance", which is what makes this criminal and not just another casual breach of procedures.

[Bill USA]

36. What law did she break -though shalt not receive emails to be judged classified - in the future?

[font size="+1"]
Clinton Email Scandal Falls Apart As State Dept. Says There Was No Policy Against Private Email[/font]

The Republican Hillary Clinton email scandal is falling apart as the State Department confirmed that there was no policy against Clinton using private email.

On CNN’s New Day, State Department spokesman John Kirby said, “We have said in the past, Chris that there was no policy prohibiting the use of a private email account here at the State Department, and that is still a fact. Now, obviously, we have policies in place now that highly discourage that, and you are supposed to use your government account so that there is a constant, permanent record of it, but at the time she was not violating policy….I can tell you that there was no prohibition for her use of this, and we’ve since changed the policy to discourage that greatly, and in fact, the policy is that you have to use your government account for business.”

Kirby added that he didn’t believe that the policy changed while she was Secretary of State, which means that Hillary Clinton was doing nothing wrong when she used private email.

~~

The great email scandal that Republicans hoped would destroy Hillary Clinton’s candidacy is heading down the same path as “IRS scandal,” the “Benghazi scandal,” and President Obama’s birth certificate.
(more)

[font size="+1"]
... so then, did the entire Department of State break a law???


First time Government official "systematic avoidance" of complying with a law?? That's not true in HRC's case BUT.....

FLASHBACK: When Millions Of Lost Bush White House Emails (From Private Accounts) Triggered A Media Shrug[/font]

Even for a Republican White House that was badly stumbling through George W. Bush's sixth year in office, the revelation on April 12, 2007 was shocking. Responding to congressional demands for emails in connection with its investigation into the partisan firing of eight U.S. attorneys, the White House announced that as many as five million emails, covering a two-year span, had been lost.

The emails had been run through private accounts controlled by the Republican National Committee and were only supposed to be used for dealing with non-administration political campaign work to avoid violating ethics laws. Yet congressional investigators already had evidence private emails had been used for government business, including to discuss the firing of one of the U.S. attorneys. The RNC accounts were used by 22 White House staffers, including then-Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, who reportedly used his RNC email for 95 percent of his communications.

[font color="red" size="+1"]As the Washington Post reported, "Under federal law, the White House is required to maintain records, including e-mails, involving presidential decision- making and deliberations." But suddenly millions of the private RNC emails had gone missing; emails that were seen as potentially crucial evidence by Congressional investigators.[/font]

The White House email story broke on a Wednesday. Yet on that Sunday's Meet The Press, Face The Nation, and Fox News Sunday, the topic of millions of missing White House emails did not come up. At all. (The story did get covered on ABC's This Week.)
(more)

[leveymg]

37. Specifically, she's violated 18 U.S. Code § 793 - Gathering, transmitting or losing defense inform-

ation in conjunction with violation of E.O. 13526, Classified National Security Information. There's at least one more federal statute she violated. It's all explained here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251552653

You seem to be confusing agency policy with federal statute (law), and need to understand how the law changes over time as statutes are modified by Presidential Orders, such as this one that in Dec. 2009 made it unlawful for federal officials with security clearances to gather, transmit or lose presumed classified information gathered from foreign government sources.

[Bill USA]

38. you seem to be confusing statutes, as written and as applied/interpreted by the courts

Nice research but, you seem to be confusing statutes, as written and as applied/interpreted by the courts.

I refer you - again - to the Ignatius article wherein he discusses the situation of the law in this case with the former CIA general counsel and a former high-level Justice Department official (both seemingly knowledgeable in such matters):


note the paragraphs:

[font size="+1"]“It’s common” that people end up using unclassified systems to transmit classified information, said Jeffrey Smith, a former CIA general counsel who’s now a partner at Arnold & Porter, where he often represents defendants suspected of misusing classified information.

“There are always these back channels,” Smith explained. “It’s inevitable, because the classified systems are often cumbersome and lots of people have access to the classified e-mails or cables.” People who need quick guidance about a sensitive matter often pick up the phone or send a message on an open system. They shouldn’t, but they do.

“It’s common knowledge that the classified communications system is impossible and isn’t used,” said one former high-level Justice Department official. Several former prosecutors said flatly that such sloppy, unauthorized practices, although technically violations of law, wouldn’t normally lead to criminal cases.[/font]

[center]----------------------------------------------------[/center]

the Clinton email 'scandal' that isn't

Does Hillary Clinton have a serious legal problem because she may have transmitted classified information on her private e-mail server? After talking with a half-dozen knowledgeable lawyers, I think this “scandal” is overstated. Using the server was a self-inflicted wound by Clinton, but it’s not something a prosecutor would take to court.

“It’s common” that people end up using unclassified systems to transmit classified information, said Jeffrey Smith, a former CIA general counsel who’s now a partner at Arnold & Porter, where he often represents defendants suspected of misusing classified information.

“There are always these back channels,” Smith explained. “It’s inevitable, because the classified systems are often cumbersome and lots of people have access to the classified e-mails or cables.” People who need quick guidance about a sensitive matter often pick up the phone or send a message on an open system. They shouldn’t, but they do.

“It’s common knowledge that the classified communications system is impossible and isn’t used,” said one former high-level Justice Department official. Several former prosecutors said flatly that such sloppy, unauthorized practices, although technically violations of law, wouldn’t normally lead to criminal cases.
(more)

This is really just more of the GOP's reliance McCarthyist tactics to malign people in the minds of those who think questions or accusations are subtantive like established facts are. The email 'scandal' is just the nth iteration of the Benghazi 'scandal', which the GOP has been pushing for years now despite lack of facts to support it. This approach works especially well when the the M$M jumps through hoops for the GOP and treats accusations as fact. Without McCarthyist tactics what would the GOP do for a campaign?

[leveymg]

39. You seem to be confused and don't know the subject

beyond cut and paste, and won't engage on the legal and substantive issues raised.

Good night.

[Bill USA]

40. I guess you get the last word. -Yawn-

[leveymg]

42. Nighty night, again.

[Bill USA]

43. very well, hope your 'last word' makes you feel better.

.... the almost instantantaneous response to my last comment (2 min interval) would indeed be flattering ..... if I needed it.
I might suggest, perhaps you need something more to do.


BTW, if the laws you referenced apply to any behavior of HRC, they also may apply to Colin Powell - but this cannot be determined as there was no investigation as to whether his emails in his personal account contained classified information. This was of course, not done, because he was never the GOP's most feared Democratic presidential candidate.

[font size="+1"} You seem to either not be able or willing to read or comprehend the Ignatius article already quoted from. Here it is again for your embarrassment. IF you don't understand or are unwilling to understand the Ignatius article, then you are being willfully ignorant. In that case, there is nothing I can do for you. You will keep raving Hillary did something without any evidence to substantiate the charge and insist Colin Powell didn't do the same thing. As long as you are satisfied living in your Conservative Alternate Reality then there is nothing anybody - including myself or David Ignatius - can do to bring you back to the real world.[/font]



The Hillary Clinton e-mail ‘scandal’ that isn’t

[font size="+1"]NOTE: “There are always these back channels,” .."It’s inevitable, because the classified systems are often cumbersome and lots of people have access to the classified e-mails or cables.”.....Jeffrey Smith, a former CIA general counsel[/font]

Does Hillary Clinton have a serious legal problem because she may have transmitted classified information on her private e-mail server? After talking with a half-dozen knowledgeable lawyers, I think this “scandal” is overstated. Using the server was a self-inflicted wound by Clinton, but it’s not something a prosecutor would take to court.
[font size="+1"]
“It’s common” that people end up using unclassified systems to transmit classified information, said Jeffrey Smith, a former CIA general counsel who’s now a partner at Arnold & Porter, where he often represents defendants suspected of misusing classified information.

“There are always these back channels,” Smith explained. “It’s inevitable, because the classified systems are often cumbersome and lots of people have access to the classified e-mails or cables.” People who need quick guidance about a sensitive matter often pick up the phone or send a message on an open system. They shouldn’t, but they do.

“It’s common knowledge that the classified communications system is impossible and isn’t used,” said one former high-level Justice Department official. Several former prosecutors said flatly that such sloppy, unauthorized practices, although technically violations of law, wouldn’t normally lead to criminal cases.[/font]
(more)

if you GOPers didn't have McCarthyism what would you do for a campaign!

[Motown_Johnny]

8. Ah, such brilliant debating skills! Hard to argue with that.

[cherokeeprogressive]

17. This is the kind of stuff that to me starts to reek of desperation.

From VR's cotton ball responses to his shrill demands... I'm smellin' desperation.

[Bill USA]

28. no it's not, just produce some evidence. But evidence isn't what GOPers are interested in. Just

insinuations that what HRC is different from what others in high Government posts have done in the past.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-hillary-clinton-e-mail-scandal-that-isnt/2015/08/27/b1cabed8-4cf4-11e5-902f-39e9219e574b_story.html

Does Hillary Clinton have a serious legal problem because she may have transmitted classified information on her private e-mail server? After talking with a half-dozen knowledgeable lawyers, I think this “scandal” is overstated. Using the server was a self-inflicted wound by Clinton, but it’s not something a prosecutor would take to court.

“It’s common” that people end up using unclassified systems to transmit classified information, said Jeffrey Smith, a former CIA general counsel who’s now a partner at Arnold & Porter, where he often represents defendants suspected of misusing classified information.

“There are always these back channels,” Smith explained. “It’s inevitable, because the classified systems are often cumbersome and lots of people have access to the classified e-mails or cables.” People who need quick guidance about a sensitive matter often pick up the phone or send a message on an open system. They shouldn’t, but they do.

“It’s common knowledge that the classified communications system is impossible and isn’t used,” said one former high-level Justice Department official. Several former prosecutors said flatly that such sloppy, unauthorized practices, although technically violations of law, wouldn’t normally lead to criminal cases.
(more)

how extraordinary was Clinton's use of personal email account? NOt extraordinary at all:

FLASHBACK: When Millions Of Lost Bush White House Emails (From Private Accounts) Triggered A Media Shrug

Even for a Republican White House that was badly stumbling through George W. Bush's sixth year in office, the revelation on April 12, 2007 was shocking. [font color="red"]Responding to congressional demands for emails in connection with its investigation into the partisan firing of eight U.S. attorneys, the White House announced that as many as five million emails, covering a two-year span, had been lost.[/font]

The emails had been run through [font size="+2"]private accounts[/font] [font color="red"]controlled by the Republican National Committee[/font][/font] and were only supposed to be used for dealing with non-administration political campaign work to avoid violating ethics laws.[font size="+1" color="red"] Yet congressional investigators already had evidence private emails had been used for government business, including to discuss the firing of one of the U.S. attorneys. The RNC accounts were used by 22 White House staffers, including then-Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, who reportedly used his RNC email for 95 percent of his communications.[/font]

As the Washington Post reported, "Under federal law, the White House is required to maintain records, including e-mails, involving presidential decision- making and deliberations." But suddenly millions of the private RNC emails had gone missing; emails that were seen as potentially crucial evidence by Congressional investigators.

The White House email story broke on a Wednesday. Yet on that Sunday's Meet The Press, Face The Nation, and Fox News Sunday, the topic of millions of missing White House emails did not come up. At all. (The story did get covered on ABC's This Week.)
(more)

Colin Powell relied on personal emails while secretary of state

Like Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of State Colin Powell also used a personal email account during his tenure at the State Department, an aide confirmed in a statement.

“He was not aware of any restrictions nor does he recall being made aware of any over the four years he served at State,” the statement says. “He sent emails to his staff generally via their State Department email addresses. These emails should be on the State Department computers. He might have occasionally used personal email addresses, as he did when emailing to family and friends.”

Powell’s statement comes after The New York Times reported that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used a personal account while at the State Department, and the department acknowledged that thousands of emails Clinton generated during her tenure were not archived as official government records. [font size="+1" color="red"]The Times story also mentioned that Powell “used personal email to communicate with American officials and ambassadors and foreign leaders.”[/font]

The statement continues: “He did not take any hard copies of emails with him when he left office and has no record of the emails. They were all unclassified and mostly of a housekeeping nature. He came into office encouraging the use of emails as a way of getting the staff to embrace the new 21st information world.”
(more)

[yeoman6987]

15. They probably would if he was running for president

[Bill USA]

6. "indefensible"?--Bullshit. Reality check: the Clinton email 'scandal' that isn't - david ignatious

Last edited Wed Sep 9, 2015, 05:27 PM - Edit history (1)

the Clinton email 'scandal' that isn't

Does Hillary Clinton have a serious legal problem because she may have transmitted classified information on her private e-mail server? After talking with a half-dozen knowledgeable lawyers, I think this “scandal” is overstated. Using the server was a self-inflicted wound by Clinton, but it’s not something a prosecutor would take to court.

“It’s common” that people end up using unclassified systems to transmit classified information, said Jeffrey Smith, a former CIA general counsel who’s now a partner at Arnold & Porter, where he often represents defendants suspected of misusing classified information.

“There are always these back channels,” Smith explained. “It’s inevitable, because the classified systems are often cumbersome and lots of people have access to the classified e-mails or cables.” People who need quick guidance about a sensitive matter often pick up the phone or send a message on an open system. They shouldn’t, but they do.

“It’s common knowledge that the classified communications system is impossible and isn’t used,” said one former high-level Justice Department official. Several former prosecutors said flatly that such sloppy, unauthorized practices, although technically violations of law, wouldn’t normally lead to criminal cases.
(more)

[Motown_Johnny]

7. Then why say she did exactly what Powell did?

Start being accurate about what happened and we can have a reasonable discussion about it.

[Bill USA]

12. no answer for ignatious article then.

[Motown_Johnny]

20. It is not exactly what Powell did.

Edit because I confused which article you were referring to.



Powell used 2 accounts, exactly what Clinton now admits she should have done.

Claiming that she did exactly the same thing is a false statement.

[Bill USA]

24. no answer to realities pointed out in Ignatious article. You GOPers, without McCarthyism what would

... do for a campaign.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-hillary-clinton-e-mail-scandal-that-isnt/2015/08/27/b1cabed8-4cf4-11e5-902f-39e9219e574b_story.html

Does Hillary Clinton have a serious legal problem because she may have transmitted classified information on her private e-mail server? After talking with a half-dozen knowledgeable lawyers, I think this “scandal” is overstated. Using the server was a self-inflicted wound by Clinton, but it’s not something a prosecutor would take to court.

“It’s common” that people end up using unclassified systems to transmit classified information, said Jeffrey Smith, a former CIA general counsel who’s now a partner at Arnold & Porter, where he often represents defendants suspected of misusing classified information.

“There are always these back channels,” Smith explained. “It’s inevitable, because the classified systems are often cumbersome and lots of people have access to the classified e-mails or cables.” People who need quick guidance about a sensitive matter often pick up the phone or send a message on an open system. They shouldn’t, but they do.

“It’s common knowledge that the classified communications system is impossible and isn’t used,” said one former high-level Justice Department official. Several former prosecutors said flatly that such sloppy, unauthorized practices, although technically violations of law, wouldn’t normally lead to criminal cases.
(more)

[Bill USA]

26. you're taking the word (that no government business was conducted on personal account) from the guy

who told us Saddam Hussein had WMD, that the 'intelligence' was legitimate. THis is whose word you're taking that no government (classified info?) business was conducted on his personal account? Why no questioning of him? Because he was not the GOP's most feared Democrat running for the Presidency.

Really, if you GOPers didn't have McCarthyism what would you do for a campaign.

[Jester Messiah]

31. I think leveymg nailed it

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251578872#post29

[in_cog_ni_to]

11. Exactly. He had TWO complete systems.

One secure system for SOS business and his laptop for personal stuff. Hillary had ONE system for everything so she didn't have to be burdened with having to always take two phones/systems with her wherever she went.

[Motown_Johnny]

22. But her Blackberry was not government issue.

Her one phone could connect to multiple email accounts.

[Skwmom]

13. This makes it worse for Clinton and IMO it was a mistake to drag Powell into this debacle. n/t

[Bill USA]

30. Colin Powell and 22 Bush WH advisors used personal emails to conduct government business ...

.. to understand the statement above it is necessary to read the articles excerpted below - even if they challenge your Party line on Hillary Clinton.... (of course, I know Republicans and their M$M whores won't gaze upon such heresies)

The Hillary Clinton e-mail ‘scandal’ that isn’t - David Ignatious - WaPo

Does Hillary Clinton have a serious legal problem because she may have transmitted classified information on her private e-mail server? After talking with a half-dozen knowledgeable lawyers, I think this “scandal” is overstated. Using the server was a self-inflicted wound by Clinton, but it’s not something a prosecutor would take to court.
[font size="+1"]
“It’s common” that people end up using unclassified systems to transmit classified information, said Jeffrey Smith, a former CIA general counsel who’s now a partner at Arnold & Porter, where he often represents defendants suspected of misusing classified information.[/font]

“There are always these back channels,” Smith explained. “It’s inevitable, because the classified systems are often cumbersome and lots of people have access to the classified e-mails or cables.” People who need quick guidance about a sensitive matter often pick up the phone or send a message on an open system. They shouldn’t, but they do.
[font size="+1"]
“It’s common knowledge that the classified communications system is impossible and isn’t used,” said one former high-level Justice Department official. Several former prosecutors said flatly that such sloppy, unauthorized practices, although technically violations of law, wouldn’t normally lead to criminal cases.[/font]
(more)

How extraordinary was Clinton's use of personal email account? NOT extraordinary at all:
[font size="+1"]
During the Bush administration 22 White House advisors used personal email accounts ...[font color="red"]controlled by the Republican National Committee[/font][/font]


FLASHBACK: When Millions Of Lost Bush White House Emails (From Private Accounts) Triggered A Media Shrug

Even for a Republican White House that was badly stumbling through George W. Bush's sixth year in office, the revelation on April 12, 2007 was shocking. [font color="red"]Responding to congressional demands for emails in connection with its investigation into the partisan firing of eight U.S. attorneys, the White House announced that as many as five million emails, covering a two-year span, had been lost.[/font]

The emails had been run through [font size="+2"]private accounts[/font] [font color="red"]controlled by the Republican National Committee[/font][/font] and were only supposed to be used for dealing with non-administration political campaign work to avoid violating ethics laws.[font size="+1" color="red"] Yet congressional investigators already had evidence private emails had been used for government business, including to discuss the firing of one of the U.S. attorneys. The RNC accounts were used by 22 White House staffers, including then-Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, who reportedly used his RNC email for 95 percent of his communications.[/font]

As the Washington Post reported, "Under federal law, the White House is required to maintain records, including e-mails, involving presidential decision- making and deliberations." But suddenly millions of the private RNC emails had gone missing; emails that were seen as potentially crucial evidence by Congressional investigators.

The White House email story broke on a Wednesday. Yet on that Sunday's Meet The Press, Face The Nation, and Fox News Sunday, the topic of millions of missing White House emails did not come up. At all. (The story did get covered on ABC's This Week.)
(more)

[font size="+1"]
Colin Powell relied on personal emails while secretary of state[/font]

Like Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of State Colin Powell also used a personal email account during his tenure at the State Department, an aide confirmed in a statement.

“He was not aware of any restrictions nor does he recall being made aware of any over the four years he served at State,” the statement says. “He sent emails to his staff generally via their State Department email addresses. These emails should be on the State Department computers. He might have occasionally used personal email addresses, as he did when emailing to family and friends.”

Powell’s statement comes after The New York Times reported that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used a personal account while at the State Department, and the department acknowledged that thousands of emails Clinton generated during her tenure were not archived as official government records. [font size="+1" color="red"]The Times story also mentioned that Powell “used personal email to communicate with American officials and ambassadors and foreign leaders.”[/font]

The statement continues: “He did not take any hard copies of emails with him when he left office and has no record of the emails. They were all unclassified and mostly of a housekeeping nature. He came into office encouraging the use of emails as a way of getting the staff to embrace the new 21st information world.”
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[Indepatriot]

2. Did Powell run for President?...

[VanillaRhapsody]

4. Who cares?

[Indepatriot]

9. Hillary Clinton is applying for the job of President. Powell, as far as I know, never did the same.

Therefore, his email habits are not relevant to Hillary's situation. BTW, I'm in the "faux scandal" camp on this and Benghazi. The way Clinton is handling this, however, is disastrous. She's torpedoing her own candidacy for lack of ability to answer straightforwardly and put this down. This speaks volumes about her (in)ability to run a winning campaign in the GE. "You mean wipe it clean with a rag?" Plausible deniability may work in a courtroom, in a Presidential Campaign it's lunacy and/or gross incompetence.

[frylock]

16. HILLARY 2016: Republicans Did It Too!

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

18. Kinda like Dillinger saying, "Pretty Boy Floyd did it too."

[Bill USA]

45. bush WH officials broke a law... see comnt 44

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

47. Did they apologize like Hillary did?

[Bill USA]

33. if it's so investigation worthy now, why not when a Republican did it? Always good to expose

GOP hypocrisy and cynicism!

...... IT'S YOUR PARTY THAT IS CLAIMING HILLARY DID SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY AS IF IT'S NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE ....-- WHEN THEY KNOW THEY THEMSELVES HAVE DONE IT!

It's something that is done. I presented the Colin Powell info to demonstrate that fact. Here is more on email usage by high level Government officials...

the Clinton email 'scandal' that isn't

Does Hillary Clinton have a serious legal problem because she may have transmitted classified information on her private e-mail server? After talking with a half-dozen knowledgeable lawyers, I think this “scandal” is overstated. Using the server was a self-inflicted wound by Clinton, but it’s not something a prosecutor would take to court.

“It’s common” that people end up using unclassified systems to transmit classified information, said Jeffrey Smith, a former CIA general counsel who’s now a partner at Arnold & Porter, where he often represents defendants suspected of misusing classified information.

“There are always these back channels,” Smith explained. “It’s inevitable, because the classified systems are often cumbersome and lots of people have access to the classified e-mails or cables.” People who need quick guidance about a sensitive matter often pick up the phone or send a message on an open system. They shouldn’t, but they do.

“It’s common knowledge that the classified communications system is impossible and isn’t used,” said one former high-level Justice Department official. Several former prosecutors said flatly that such sloppy, unauthorized practices, although technically violations of law, wouldn’t normally lead to criminal cases.
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[frylock]

35. You're using poor judgment by Republicans to rationalize poor judgment of your candidate..

You know why Republicans didn't investigate Colin Powell? Because they are FUCKING hypocrites. Is that the standard you'd like to set for Democrats as well? Are Democrats not better than that? If Clinton is elected, and decides we need to attack Iran based upon cooked evidence, does that make it okay because Bush did the same? I've been saying this since it was disclosed several months ago; it may not have been illegal, but it shows a continued pattern of poor judgment used by Clinton. We can do better than that.

[Bill USA]

44. see cmnt 28. Bush WH broke a law "Under federal law, the White House is required to maintain records

... including e-mails, involving presidential decision- making and deliberations."



FLASHBACK: When Millions Of Lost Bush White House Emails (From Private Accounts) Triggered A Media Shrug

As the Washington Post reported, "Under federal law, the White House is required to maintain records, including e-mails, involving presidential decision- making and deliberations." But suddenly millions of the private RNC emails had gone missing; emails that were seen as potentially crucial evidence by Congressional investigators.

here's the complete excerpt from cmt 28:

Even for a Republican White House that was badly stumbling through George W. Bush's sixth year in office, the revelation on April 12, 2007 was shocking. Responding to congressional demands for emails in connection with its investigation into the partisan firing of eight U.S. attorneys, the White House announced that as many as five million emails, covering a two-year span, had been lost.

The emails had been run through private accounts controlled by the Republican National Committee and were only supposed to be used for dealing with non-administration political campaign work to avoid violating ethics laws. Yet congressional investigators already had evidence private emails had been used for government business, including to discuss the firing of one of the U.S. attorneys. The RNC accounts were used by 22 White House staffers, including then-Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, who reportedly used his RNC email for 95 percent of his communications.

As the Washington Post reported, "Under federal law, the White House is required to maintain records, including e-mails, involving presidential decision- making and deliberations." But suddenly millions of the private RNC emails had gone missing; emails that were seen as potentially crucial evidence by Congressional investigators.

The White House email story broke on a Wednesday. Yet on that Sunday's Meet The Press, Face The Nation, and Fox News Sunday, the topic of millions of missing White House emails did not come up. At all. (The story did get covered on ABC's This Week.)
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the state dept has said they did not have a formal policy on personal email accounts.

We don't know that Clinton broke any laws re classified information as so far, no emails marked containing classified information have been found. Much as Repugnants would like us to follow McCarthyist tradition, and judge her based on nothing - we really should wait until evidence is found before declaring hillary guilty of commiting a crime.

[frylock]

46. You're using poor judgment by Republicans to rationalize poor judgment from your candidate.

I guess you didn't read it through the first time, so I'll reiterate a second time:

You're using poor judgment by Republicans to rationalize poor judgment from your candidate.

I don't know why you're citing the law. In fact, I acknowledged that it WASN'T illegal. I've said this from the beginning: Hillary continues to exercise poor judgment, whether setting up and conducting State Department business on a private mail server, or voting yea on IWR. Every one of her Hard Choices© has been a Bad Decision. I don't want anyone like that anywhere near the WH. We can do better.

[SonderWoman]

21. LOL @ people here defending Colin Powell to trash Hillary!

DU 2015

[cherokeeprogressive]

23. How is stating the fact Colin Powell didn't do "the same thing" defending him?

[LettuceSea]

25. Ugh, that was a reach. Not sure how that article will help her regroup and win.

Maybe it'll work elsewhere. Hope it does.

[ibegurpard]

41. I have no idea

I don't care about this.