PerspectiveClinton’s Email Practices Were Risky but Not Malicious, State Department Finds
A multi-year State Department investigation into the private email server that haunted Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign is complete. During the 2016 election, Donald Trump called Clinton’s use of the server “one of the great crimes” of our time, repeating this wild accusation as late as last month, during a press conference at the UN. But after reviewing 33,000 emails sent to or from Clinton, investigators found that the former secretary of state’s practice of using a private email server for official work presented a security risk, but said there was no “systemic, deliberate mishandling of classified information” by Clinton or her associates, according to a State Department report presented to Congress last week. This is the second time a federal agency has come to this conclusion: The FBI began an investigation into Clinton’s email use in 2015. It found Clinton and her staff didn’t intend to mishandle classified information and declined to bring charges.
A multi-year State Department investigation into the private email server that haunted Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign is complete.
Riley Beggin writes in Vox that after reviewing 33,000 emails sent to or from Clinton, investigators found that the former secretary of state’s practice of using a private email server for official work presented a security risk, but said there was no “systemic, deliberate mishandling of classified information” by Clinton or her associates, according to a State Department report presented to Congress last week.
All of the emails in question were sent and received during Clinton’s tenure at the State Department, and became an issue during the 2016 presidential campaign. During that time, the FBI conducted an investigation into Clinton’s use of the server and ultimately found the then candidate had not put classified information in enough jeopardy for her to be prosecuted.
Donald Trump, however, took up the issue and used it to attack Clinton throughout the campaign cycle; he has continued to do so as president, calling Clinton’s use of the server “one of the great crimes” on the sidelines of the 2019 UN General Assembly, for instance.
Beggin writes:
The questions at the heart of the investigation were whether Clinton or her staff failed to safely handle classified information and whether there were individuals who were directly responsible for any potential security lapses. After taking statements from hundreds of officials, investigators determined 38 people were “culpable” of breaking security rules, but didn’t find malintent.
“While there were some instances of classified information being inappropriately introduced into an unclassified system in furtherance of expedience,” the department’s report reads, “By and large, the individuals interviewed were aware of security policies and did their best to implement them in their operations.”
This is the second time a federal agency has come to this conclusion: The FBI began an investigation into Clinton’s email use in 2015. It found Clinton and her staff didn’t intend to mishandle classified information and declined to bring charges, but then FBI director James Comey said Clinton and her team had been “extremely careless.”
