We Still Have Questions About Hillary Clinton #39;s Emails
Hillary Clinton says her use of a private email account while secretary of state was a matter of convenience, but that doesn #39;t explain everything. Follow Elizabeth Hagedorn: http://www.twitter.com...
By: Newsy Politics
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We Still Have Questions About Hillary Clinton's Emails - Video
Whatever it was that Hillary Clinton might have been up to at the State Department, she is not going to be given the automatic benefit of the doubt. Photo: Reuters
I'm not easily startled by much of anything in American political life these days. But I have to say that I watched Hillary Clinton's press conference this week with stunned amazement. Even by the usual standards of Washington theatricals, this was gobsmacking in its sheer temerity.
The Saga of Hillary's Emails, in which official State Department business turned out to have gone through the Clintons' own private email server, is not going to go away. There is far too much sense of deja vu for that. Even the week's silence, followed by an unapologetic attempt to brazen it out, is reminiscent of all those unhappy Clinton adventures of the past.
At worst, it is a reminder of everything the US electorate has suspected about the Clintons as a political phenomenon.
Finally, on Tuesday, we got the brief press conference. This took the form of a scripted statement with a few questions to follow in which the main points of the statement were reiterated verbatim. However odd or irregular the practice may now appear, it was not, Mrs Clinton repeatedly insisted, disallowed under the rules of her office. But she recognised that her decision seemed peculiar in retrospect and so the obvious question had to be addressed: why on earth did she do it? Why would someone holding a great office, presiding over the most sensitive area of government policy involving matters of high diplomacy and national security, decide to conduct all her communications on the same email address with which (she pointed out poignantly) she dealt with the plans for her daughter's wedding and her mother's funeral?
Well, that was just a matter of convenience. She did not want to have to carry "two devices" around, one with her private email and the other with a State Department one. And that's it, apparently: the only attempt at an explanation that the country is going to get. It seems that no one in her professional entourage advised her that a single mobile phone is capable of dealing with more than one email address, or that she might buy a larger handbag.
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This is so preposterous that it would be likely to increase speculation even without Mrs Clinton's new decision to hand over only the 50,000 printed emails which she claims constitute all the official State Department business. (For some reason she has destroyed the other, more personal communications.) In addition, she refuses to hand over the server itself, which could still retain records of those deleted personal emails, for inspection. This insistence on selecting the material that will be divulged and a blanket refusal to countenance any independent investigation is vintage Clinton.
At the very least, it is a risky display of arrogant defiance when you are (in every sense short of official announcement) running for the presidency. At worst, it is a reminder of everything the US electorate has suspected about the Clintons as a political phenomenon. At one point on Tuesday, Mrs Clinton actually uttered the emphatic words, "I did not..." in precisely the tone of voice of her husband's famous mis-statement, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman..."
Bill Clinton used to call himself the "comeback kid" in recognition of his stunning ability to recover from a succession of scandals (sorry, right-wing conspiracies) which would have destroyed most other politicians. Emerging from the depths of Arkansas politics (which has some pretty impressive depths), he managed to reinvent himself and his party's campaigning machine in a way that has influenced electoral life on both sides of the Atlantic.
Originally posted here:
Hillary Clinton's email saga leaves her presidential bid in a sad state
Last week, we learned for seemingly the first time that, while she was secretary of State from 2009 through the beginning of 2013,Hillary Clinton solely utilized a private e-mail accountthat was set up on a server that was kept in her home rather than an official State Department e-mail account. Rather than going away like a one-day story, the story has percolated in the political media thanks in no small part to the fact that new revelations and questions seemed to be coming out every day while the White House and State Department both seemed to be rather ham-handed in their response to questions about how it came about the Clinton was allowed to do this back in 2009, what kind of security was involved, who had control over the server itself, and whether or not Hillary Clinton had ever communicated with the president or other White House personnel using her personal e-mail account. Through it all, though, there was almost no response from Hillary Clinton outside of a single tweet when the story first broke. Obviously, her advisers had hoped the story would die out on its own, but it became apparent by the time the new week began that this wasnt the case so, on Tuesday,the former secretary of State addressed the media after an appearance at the United Nations, but her statements created as many questions as they answered:
Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday defended her exclusive use of a private email address during her time as secretary of state as a matter of convenience, saying that about 30,000 of her work-related emails would be made public, but that thousands more that she deemed personal had been deleted.
I thought using one device would be simpler; obviously, it hasnt worked out that way, she said in her first public comments since the issue emerged last week.
She said that most of her emails were work-related, went to government employees and were captured on government servers. Mrs. Clinton said that the State Department would make public all of her work-related emails, but that her personal email about issues such as her daughters wedding and the death of her mother would remain private.
I feel that I have taken unprecedented steps to provide these public emails; they will be in the public domain, she said.
Mrs. Clinton spoke for about 20 minutes during a news conference, delivering a statement on womens issues and denouncing moves by Republican lawmakers to undermine efforts for a nuclear agreement with Iran, before turning to the controversy over her emails.
Expressing a mix of regret and defensiveness over the matter, Mrs. Clinton emphasized that she broke no laws. I fully complied with every rule, she said, adding that no classified material had been sent on her email.
However, she remained steadfast that she would not turn over personal emails and said that those messages in fact had been deleted.
They were about personal and private matters that I believed were in the scope of my personal privacy and particularly that of other people, she said. They had nothing to do with work. I didnt see a need to keep them.
The State Department said on Tuesday that it would publish online the full set of emails provided by Mrs. Clinton from her time as secretary of state.
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How Hillary Clinton answers on e-mail flap created more questions (+video)
Malzberg | Lanny Davis discusses Hillary Clinton #39;s Email Issue
Former Special Counsel to President Bill Clinton joins Steve to discuss Hillary Clinton #39;s Email Issue and the heat both she and Lanny have been getting defending it.
By: NewsmaxTV
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Malzberg | Lanny Davis discusses Hillary Clinton's Email Issue - Video
Hillary Clinton: #39;It would have been better to have second email address #39;
Subscribe: http://smarturl.it/reuterssubscribe Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she opted for convenience in using a personal email at the State Department so she could carry...
By: Reuters
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Hillary Clinton: 'It would have been better to have second email address' - Video