Thanks, Mr. Hacker! The Worst Thing Is How We Found Out About Clinton's Use Of Private Email For Government Business
McGurn writes at the WSJ:
Mrs. Clinton was allowed to spend her four years as secretary of state off the grid.It isn't so much that Mrs. Clinton set up a personal server so she would not be accountable the way normal political appointees are held accountable. It's that no one in government stopped her. The inspector general's report notes that when two IT officers expressed their concern in 2010 that her private email system meant federal records were not being preserved, they were told "never to speak of the Secretary's personal email system again."
As a result, when the American people finally learned about Mrs. Clinton's use of private email for public business, it wasn't because of a functioning civil service. It was because of a hacker.
Mrs. Clinton says officials at State never told her what she was doing wasn't allowed. That isn't quite true. It's more accurate to say she never asked the people who would have the answers to these questions. The IG report confirms it was made clear to State staffers that she did not want the questions asked.
It gets worse. Even today her former department is still resisting efforts to make public the emails she tried to hide. Groups such as Judicial Watch have done yeoman's work in forcing the emails into the sunlight--but they have also had to get court orders to pry them out of an obstructionist State Department.
It's a disturbing pattern, and unfortunately it's not limited to State. There have been similar questions about the integrity and professionalism of the IRS ever since the American people learned in 2013 that it was unfairly targeting conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status.
Increasingly, ours is a system of crony capitalism.
I can certainly understand that maybe those employees who were told to put a sock in it (about federal records not being preserved) have children to feed and/or other expenses and need to keep their jobs.
However, the courageous thing to do would have been to come forward. To now be so impressed or cowed by "authority" that they just went "Okey-dokey" and went away (if that's indeed what happened) -- that just keeps up crony capitalism as usual and enabled the breaching and perhaps continuing endangering of our national security.
"However, the courageous thing to do would have been to come forward."
It's not their job to state the obvious beyond their job requirements. Their "bosses" gave them the answer - "It's fine. Shut up now.).
Who at State did not know she was off the grid, it's not like her Staff kept it a secret.
What would the "story" have been. That she was insisting on doing something that COULD lead to trouble down the road?
MSM could have brought this up and probably would have if it had been a forerunner of a Rommney Presidential run.
We all agree that if a Republican had do this they would have been hammered in the press and maybe charged by the current Administration minions.
It has been fixed and that is obvious by the actions of the IRS, the EPA, and the Clinton Foundation.
"It ain't what they call you, it's what you answer to." W. C. Fields
Bob in Texas at September 7, 2016 5:33 AM
I was a federal employee when Obama was elected. Within a matter of a year, at my office, all accountability to to the public ended, and the bosses were revealed as partisin democrats who were safe enough in their jobs to send out blatantly political emails to all their employees. On a regular basis.
This will continue if Hillary is elected. Not one shred of professionalism or accountability ( or respect for impartiality)
At least under the Bush administration they kept their heads down. .
This is why I have to vote for Trump. Backdooring Hillary in through a vote for Johnson will lead to the same bad outcome.
If Hillary wins by one stinkin vote in bumfuck Ohio, she will claim a mandate for socialism.
Isab at September 7, 2016 6:07 AM
Clinton did not control her emails so she and others enabled emails containing government information to be deleted, to be withheld from a subpoena, to be viewed by parties w/o the proper (if any) security clearance, and so on.
No charges have been filled against her, her staff, or her non-government employees.
Why should some government IT guys be chastised for not "going public" that Clinton was not following State rules.
Bob in Texas at September 7, 2016 6:18 AM
All federal employees and contractors get beaten over the head with records-retention training and reminders. Everybody had to know it was a violation of the Federal Records Act. Open-and-shut case. Were she to be charged and brought to trial, I don't see anything Clinton could say to mount a credible defense.
Now, the Federal Records Act doesn't carry big penalties. Quite frankly, it's mostly a tool used to claw back payments to contractors who have fallen out of favor. I've never heard of anyone going to jail because of it. But in the past, everyone has at least made a pretense of complying. We now see that the leftist-dominated parts of the executive branch -- notably the IRS, the EPA, HUD, and State -- are routinely defying FOIA and getting away with it, destroying records that are under subpoena and just plain refusing to release data.
Cousin Dave at September 7, 2016 7:09 AM
Maybe Obama is waiting until Hillary has been elected to sic the FBI on her. She gets indicted, the VP and Speaker haven't yet taken office. Poor Barack has to stay on.
Steamer at September 7, 2016 9:07 AM
What is also telling is it is hackers who uncovered this and the Democrat convention garbage, not the gov't and not the press.
Joe J at September 7, 2016 9:45 AM
The term should be Crony Socialism or Crony Government. Crony Capitalism is a slur promoted by socialists, as is the word Capitalism, a slur created by Marx to oppose freedom of ownership and trade, and to support totalitarian government control. Supposedly, capitalists care about machines to the exclusion of people.
When government takes bribes, it blames businessmen, not the officials sworn to serve the public honestly. When it grants favors, it says that capitalists are at fault. If there is any government failure, then it is supposedly the market which failed. If there are any unsatisfied wants in the country, then it is the remaining capitalist part which has failed to join hands to produce the utopian future just over the horizon.
Government is almost entirely a socialist institution. It is a socialist failure when government policies fail. The legal system of courts supporting individual contract is a minor exception.
It is naive to think that government is spending on projects with a positive return to make all of our lives better. That is a cover story. Any good works are at a minimum.
The nature of the state:
http://cafehayek.com/2012/05/some-links-174.html
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[edited] There is a notion that the state is a legitimate agency deserving respect; that despite its flaws, it generally promotes or tries to promote the welfare of its citizens. This is increasingly difficult to understand, much less to accept.
The late Mancur Olson had a far more realistic view: The state is a Stationary Bandit. Ordinary people might have to tolerate this, but they should understand that dealing with the state is dealing with organized thuggery. Obey the state because it can unleash its guns and prisons on you. But, please don’t pretend that the state’s commands are issued with your best interests in mind.
=== ===
Andrew Garland at September 7, 2016 10:15 AM
"Maybe Obama is waiting until Hillary has been elected to sic the FBI on her. She gets indicted, the VP and Speaker haven't yet taken office. Poor Barack has to stay on."
Uh, no.
Presidential order of succession:
# Office Current Officer
1 Vice President Joe Biden
2 Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan
3 President pro tempore of the US Senate Orrin Hatch
4 Secretary of State John Kerry
5 Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew
6 Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter
7 Attorney General Loretta Lynch
8 Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell*
9 Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack
10 Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker
11 Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez
12 Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Mathews Burwell
13 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro
14 Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx
15 Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz
16 Secretary of Education John King, Jr.
17 Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert McDonald
18 Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson
Steve Daniels at September 7, 2016 4:35 PM
I take it you haven't heard that conspiracy theory before. It goes, Hillary is elected but before she get sworn in she is convicted and jailed (yeah right, with how slow the courts move?). Since she cannot take the oath of office from prison (I'm not sure exactly why) Obama declares a state of emergency. He then declares martial law and nullifies the election. Then Obama gets that sweet third term.
Of course if Obama can pull that off he may as well declare himself dictator for life. In all reality it would be a coup. I just don't see Obama having the military support to pull something like that off.
Ben at September 7, 2016 6:50 PM
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