How extensive was Hillary Rodham Clintons use of personal e-mail during her tenure as secretary of State? Lets put it this way: She apparently had more than just a personal account. She had an entire personal e-mail system.
Thats what the Associated Press is reporting, in any case. An AP investigation found that the computer server that handled Mrs. Clintons e-mail traced back to an Internet service registered to her home in Chappaqua, N.Y.
Its unclear who ran this infrastructure, write AP reporters Jack Gillum and Ted Bridis. They traced it to a mysterious entity, Eric Hoteham. Its possible this is a pseudonym, since the name doesnt appear in any public databases.
Eric Hoteham is listed as the customer at the Clinton house address in Internet registration records. On Wednesday, social media went nuts as self-appointed detectives tried to figure out whether Eric Hoteham was a real person or an anagram or some other symbolic combination.
As the conservative website Twitchy quickly noted, the letters in the name can be rearranged into a number of other phrases, among them oath crime, eh? and Hi come hater.
What does Eric Hoteham really mean? Twitter sleuths are on it! Twitchy said.
Wordplay aside, why would Clinton go so far as to rely on her own physical computers to handle her e-mail traffic? After all, she probably was not relaxing from the stress of being secretary of State by writing her own code.
Well, more control is one obvious feature here. Her husband is an ex-president and she hopes to be one in the future. Over the decades, the Clintons may have decided they can rely only on themselves for security and discretion in communications. Theyve long felt under attack from what Mrs. Clinton once labeled a vast right-wing conspiracy.
After all, Mr. Clintons affair with intern Monica Lewinsky became a matter of public concern almost by accident, as Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr learned of the relationship while investigating other matters, including the Clintons' involvement in the failed Whitewater land deal in Arkansas.
But this example also points out the obvious negative implication for Clinton of the e-mail system revelation. It could easily be interpreted as evidence she has something to hide. Thats certainly how Clintons critics on the right see it.
See the article here:
Hillary Clinton e-mail uproar: Who is the mysterious 'Eric ...