Email
Controversy, Page Two
On March 2, 2015, the New York Times'
Michael S. Schmidt
reported that Hillary Clinton "exclusively used a personal email
account to
conduct government business as secretary of state."
Critics
had a field day with this bit of news, and even allies were
taken aback.
On March 5, Clinton tweeted, "I want the
public to see my email. I asked State to release them. They
said they will review them for release as soon as possible."
This story continued to
reverberate, however, and on March 10 Clinton responded by holding a
press conference and issuing a Q&A statement (below). Critics
were not satisfied.
OFFICE
OF
HILLARY
RODHAM CLINTON
Remarks to the Press
Hillary Rodham
Clinton
United Nations
New York, NY
March 10, 2015
All set. Good afternoon. I want to
thank the United Nations for hosting today’s events and putting the
challenge
of gender equality front and center on the international agenda.
I’m especially pleased to have so many
leaders here from the private sector, standing shoulder-to-shoulder
with
advocates who’ve worked tirelessly for equality for decades. Twenty
years ago,
this was a lonelier struggle.
Today, we marked the progress that has
been made in the two decades since the international community gathered
in
Beijing and declared with one voice that, “Human rights are women’s
rights and
women’s rights are human rights.”
And because of advances in health,
education, and legal protections, we can say that there has never been
a better
time in history to be born female.
Yet as the comprehensive new report
published by the Clinton Foundation and the Gates
Foundation this week makes clear, despite
all this progress, when it comes to the full
participation of women and girls, we’re
just not there yet.
As I said today, this remains the great
unfinished business of the 21st century. And my passion for this
fight burns as brightly today as it
did twenty years ago.
I want to comment on a matter in the
news today regarding Iran. The President and his team are in the midst
of
intense negotiations. Their goal is a diplomatic solution that would
close off
Iran's pathways to a nuclear bomb and give us unprecedented access and
insight
into Iran's nuclear program.
Now reasonable people can disagree
about what exactly it will take to accomplish this objective, and we
all must
judge any final agreement on its merits.
But, the recent letter from Republican
senators was out of step with the best traditions of
American leadership. And one has to
ask: what was the purpose of this letter?
There appear to be two logical answers
-- either these Senators were trying to be helpful to the Iranians, or
harmful
to the commander-in-chief in the midst of high-stakes international
diplomacy.
Either answer does discredit to the letter's signatories.
Now, I would be pleased to talk more
about this important matter, but I know there have been questions
about my emails, so I want to
address that directly and then I will take a few questions from you.
There are four things I want the public
to know.
First, when I got to work as Secretary
of State, I opted for convenience to use my personal email account –
which was
allowed by the state department – because I thought it would be easier
to carry
just one device for my work and for my personal emails, instead of two.
Looking back, it would have been better
if I had simply used a second email account and carried a second phone,
but at
the time, this didn’t seem like an issue.
Second, the vast majority of my work
emails went to government employees at their government addresses,
which meant
they were captured and preserved immediately on the system at the State
Department.
Third, after I left office the State
Department asked former secretaries of state for our assistance in
providing
copies of work-related emails from our personal accounts.
I responded right away and provided all
my emails that could possibly be work-related, which totaled roughly
55,000
printed pages. Even though I knew the state department had the vast
majority of
them.
We went through a thorough process to
identify all of my work-related emails and deliver them to the State
Department. At the end, I chose not to keep my private, personal
emails. Emails
about planning Chelsea’s wedding or my mother’s funeral arrangements.
Condolence notes to friends, as well as yoga routines, family
vacations: the
other things you typically find in in-boxes. No one wants their
personal emails
made public. And I think most people understand that and respect that
privacy.
Fourth, I took the unprecedented step
of asking that the State Department make all my work-related emails
public for
everyone to see.
I am very proud of the work that I, my
colleagues, and our public servants at the Department did during my
four years
as Secretary of State. And I look forward to people being able to see
that for
themselves.
Again, looking back, it would have been
better for me to use two separate phones and two email accounts. I
thought
using one device would be simpler, and obviously, it hasn’t worked out
that
way.
And Now, I am happy to take a few
questions.
###
OFFICE OF HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
We
wanted to take this opportunity, given how much information has been
circulating, to provide the best information we have about an
understandably
confusing situation. This document is on-the-record as “Statement from
the
Office of Former Secretary Clinton.”
Background
Like
Secretaries of State before her, Secretary Clinton used her own email
account
when engaging with State Department officials. For work, it was her
practice to
email them on their “.gov” accounts, with every expectation those
emails would
be captured and preserved immediately in the Department's system.
When
the Department asked former Secretaries last year for help ensuring
that their
work emails were in fact retained, she said yes and provided printed
copies of
all of her work-related emails. She has since asked the Department to
make the
emails she provided available to the public.
She
is proud of the work that she and the public servants at the Department
did
during her four years as Secretary of State and looks forward to people
being
able to see that for themselves.
Why did
she use her own email account?
As
the Secretary has said publicly, when she got to the Department, she
wanted the
simplicity of using one device. She opted to use her personal email
account as
a matter of convenience; it enabled her to reach people quickly and
keep in
regular touch with her family and friends more easily given her travel
schedule. That is the only reason she used her own account. Her usage
was
widely known to the over 100 Department and U.S. government colleagues
she
emailed, as her address was visible on every email she sent. To address
requirements to keep records of her work emails, it was her practice to
email
government officials on their “.gov” accounts. That way, they would be
immediately captured and preserved in the Department's system.
Was this
allowed?
Yes.
The laws and regulations allowed her to use her own email for work.
Under
the Federal Records Act, records are defined as
recorded information, regardless of its form or characteristics, “made
or received by
a Federal agency under Federal law or in connection with the
transaction of
public business.” [44 U.S.C. § 3301]. In 2009, the National Archives
and Record Administration issued guidance reaffirming a prior
regulation (36 CFR § 1234.24) on the need to preserve work emails.
In
meeting the record-keeping obligations, it was Secretary Clinton’s
practice to
email government officials on their “.gov” accounts, so her work emails
were
immediately captured and preserved.
Was she
ever provided guidance about her use of a non-“.gov” email account?
The
Department has and did provide guidance regarding the need to preserve
federal
records, which included her work emails. To address requirements to
keep
records of her work emails, it was her practice to email government
employees
on their “.gov” email address. That way, work emails would be
immediately
captured and preserved in government record-keeping systems.
What did
Secretary Clinton provide to the Department?
On
December 5, 2014, 30,490 printed copies of work-related emails sent and
received
by Secretary Clinton from March 18, 2009 to February 1, 2013 were
provided to
the Department. This totaled roughly 55,000 pages. About 90% of these
emails
were already in the Department’s record-keeping system because they
were sent
to or received by “state.gov” accounts
[Before
March 18, 2009, Secretary Clinton continued using the email account she
had
used during her Senate service. Given her practice from the beginning
of
emailing Department officials on their state.gov accounts, her
work-related emails
during these initial weeks would have been captured and preserved in
the
Department's record-keeping system. She, however, no longer had access
to these
emails once she transitioned from this account.]
Why did
the Select Committee announce that she used multiple email addresses
during her
tenure?
In
fairness to the Committee, this was an honest misunderstanding.
Secretary
Clinton used one email account during her tenure at State (with the
exception
of her first weeks in office while transitioning from an email account
she had
previously used). In March 2013, a month after she left the Department,
Gawker
published the email address she used while Secretary, and so she had to
change
the address on her account.
At
the time the printed copies were provided to the Department last year,
because
it was the same account, the new email address established after she
left
office appeared on the printed copies as the sender, and not the
address she
used as Secretary. In fact, this address on the account did not exist
until
March 2013. This led to understandable confusion that was cleared up
directly
with the Committee after its press conference.
Why did
the Department ask for assistance? Why did the Department need
assistance in
further meeting its requirements under the Federal Records Act?
The
Department formally requested the assistance of the four previous
former
Secretaries in a letter to their representatives dated October 28, 2014
to help
in furtherance of meeting the Department’s requirements under the
Federal
Records Act.
The
letter stated that in September 2013, the National Archives and Records
Administration (NARA) issued new guidance clarifying records management
responsibilities regarding the use of personal email accounts for
government
business.
While
this guidance was issued after all four former Secretaries had departed
office,
the Department decided to ensure its records were as complete as
possible and
sought copies of work emails sent or received by the Secretaries on
their own
accounts.
Why was
the Department given printed copies?
That
is the requirement. The instructions regarding electronic mail in the
Foreign
Affairs Manual require that “until technology allowing archival
capabilities
for long-term electronic storage and retrieval of E-mail messages is
available
and installed, those messages warranting preservation as records (for
periods
longer than current E-mail systems routinely maintain them) must be
printed out
and filed with related records.” [5 FAM 443.3].
Were any
work items deleted in the course of producing the printed copies?
No.
How many
emails were in her account? And how many of those were provided to the
Department?
Her
email account contained a total of 62,320 sent and received emails from
March
2009 to February 2013. Based on the review process described below,
30,490 of
these emails were provided to the Department, and the remaining 31,830
were
private, personal records.
How and
who decided what should be printed and provided to the Department?
The
Federal Records Act puts the obligation on the government official to
determine
what is and is not a federal record. The State Department Foreign
Affairs
Manual outlines guidance “designed to help employees determine which of
their
e-mail messages must be preserved as federal records and which may be
deleted
without further authorization because they are not Federal record
materials.”
[5 FAM 443.1(c)].
Following
conversations with Department officials and in response to the
Department’s
October 28, 2014 letter to former Secretaries requesting assistance in
meeting
the Department’s record-keeping requirements, Secretary Clinton
directed her
attorneys to assist by identifying and preserving all emails that could
potentially be federal records. This entailed a multi-step process to
provide
printed copies of the Secretary’s work-related emails to the
Department, erring
on the side of including anything
that might potentially be a federal record. As the State Department has
said,
Secretary Clinton was the first to respond to this letter.
A
search was conducted on Secretary Clinton’s email account for all
emails sent
and received from 2009 to her last day in office, February 1, 2013.
After
this universe was determined, a search was conducted for a “.gov” (not
just
state.gov) in any address field in an email. This produced over 27,500
emails,
representing more than 90% of the 30,490 printed copies that were
provided to
the Department.
To
help identify any potential non-“.gov “correspondence that should be
included,
a search of first and last names of more than 100 State Department and
other
U.S. government officials was performed. This included all Deputy
Secretaries,
Under Secretaries, Assistant Secretaries, Ambassadors-at-Large, Special
Representatives and Envoys, members of the Secretary’s Foreign Policy
Advisory
Board, and other senior officials to the Secretary, including close
aides and
staff.
Next,
to account for non-obvious or non-recognizable email addresses or
misspellings
or other idiosyncrasies, the emails were sorted and reviewed both by
sender and
recipient.
Lastly,
a number of terms were specifically searched for, including: “Benghazi”
and
“Libya.”
These
additional three steps yielded just over another 2,900 emails,
including emails
from former Administration officials and long-time friends that may not
be
deemed by the Department to be federal records. And hundreds of these
emails
actually had already been forwarded onto the state.gov system and
captured in
real-time.
With
respect to materials that the Select Committee has requested, the
Department
has stated that just under 300 emails related to Libya were provided by
the
Department to the Select Committee in response to a November 2014
letter, which
contained a broader request for materials than prior requests from the
House Oversight
and Government Reform Committee.
Given
Secretary Clinton’s practice of emailing Department officials on their
state.gov addresses, the Department already had, and had already
provided, the
Select Committee with emails from Secretary Clinton in August 2014 –
prior to
requesting and receiving printed copies of her emails.
The
review process described above confirmed Secretary Clinton’s practice
of
emailing Department officials on their .gov address, with the vast
majority of
the printed copies of work-related emails Secretary Clinton provided to
the
Department simply duplicating what was already captured in the
Department’s
record-keeping system in real time.
When the
emails provided to the Department are made available, what is an
example of
what we will see?
You
will see everything from the work of government, to emails with State
and other
Administration colleagues, to LinkedIn invites, to talk about the
weather --
essentially what anyone would see in their own email account.
Did
Secretary Clinton use this account to communicate with foreign
officials?
During
her time at State, she communicated with foreign officials in person,
through
correspondence, and by telephone. The review of all of her emails
revealed only
one email with a foreign (UK) official.
Do you
think a third party should be allowed to review what was turned over to
the
Department, as well as the remainder that was not?
The
Federal Records Act puts the obligation on the government official, not
the
agency or a third party, to determine what is and is not a federal
record. The
State Department Foreign Affairs Manual outlines guidance “designed to
help
employees determine which of their e-mail messages must be preserved as
federal
records and which may be deleted without further authorization because
they are
not Federal record materials.” [5 FAM 443.1(c)].
Secretary
Clinton responded to the Department’s request by providing
approximately 55,000
pages of her work-related emails. She has also taken the unprecedented
step of
asking that those emails be made public. In doing so, she has sought to
support
the Department's efforts, fulfill her responsibility of record- keeping
and
provide the chance for the public to assess the work she and officials
at the
Department did during her tenure.
After
her work-related emails were identified and preserved, Secretary
Clinton chose
not to keep her private, personal emails that were not federal records.
These
were private, personal messages, including emails about her daughter’s
wedding
plans, her mother’s funeral services, and condolence notes, as well as
emails
on family vacations, yoga routines, and other items one would typically
find in
their own email account, such as offers from retailers, spam, etc.
Government
officials are granted the privacy of their personal, non-work related
emails,
including personal emails on .gov accounts. Secretary Clinton exercised
her
privilege to ensure the continued privacy of her personal, non-work
related
emails.
Can’t she
release the emails she provided to the Department herself?
Because
the printed copies of work-related emails she provided to the
Department
include federal records of the Department, the Department needs to
review these
emails before they can be made public. She wants them to be made
available as
soon as possible.
Was
classified material sent or received by Secretary Clinton on this email
address?
No.
A separate, closed system was used by the Department for the sole
purpose of
handling classified communications which was designed to prevent such
information
from being transmitted anywhere other than within that system,
including to
outside email accounts.
How did
Secretary Clinton receive and consume classified information?
The
Secretary’s office is located in a secure area. Classified information
was
viewed in hard copy by the Secretary while in the office. While on
travel, the
Department had rigorous protocols for her and traveling staff to
receive and
transmit information of all types.
Where was
the server for her email located?
The
server for her email was physically located on her property, which is
protected
by U.S. Secret Service.
What
level of encryption was employed? Who was the service provider, etc?
The
security and integrity of her family’s electronic communications was
taken
seriously from the onset when it was first set up for President
Clinton’s team.
While the curiosity in the specifics of this set up is understandable,
given
what people with ill-intentions can do with such information in this
day and
age, there are concerns about broadcasting specific technical details
about
past and current practices. However, suffice it to say, robust
protections were
put in place and additional upgrades and techniques employed over time
as they
became available, including consulting and employing third party
experts.
Was the
server ever hacked?
No,
there is no evidence there was ever a breach.
Was there
ever an unauthorized intrusion into her email or did anyone else have
access to
it?
No.
What was done after her email was
exposed in
February 2013 after the hacker known as
“Guccifer” hacked Sid Blumenthal’s account?
While
this was not a breach of Secretary Clinton’s account, because her email
address
was exposed, steps were taken at that time to ensure the security and
integrity
of her electronic communications.
Was the
Department able to respond to requests related to FOIA or Congressional
requests before they received printed copies of her work- related
emails?
Yes.
As the Select Committee has said, the Department provided the Committee
with
relevant emails it already had on the state.gov system before the
Department
requested any printed copies from former Secretaries, and four months
before
the Department received the printed copies.
For
example, in the well-publicized hack of Sid Blumenthal’s email account,
a note
he sent Secretary Clinton on September 12, 2012 was posted online. At
first
blush, one might not think this exchange would be captured on the
state.gov
system. But in fact, Secretary Clinton forwarded the email, that very
same day,
onto the state.gov system. And the email was produced by the Department
to the
Select Committee, and acknowledged by the Select Committee, in August
2014.
This
example illustrates: 1) when an email from a non-“.gov” sender had some
connection to work or might add to the understanding of Department
officials,
it was Secretary Clinton’s practice to forward it to officials at their
“state.gov” address; and 2) the Department was able to search and
produce
Secretary Clinton’s emails when needed long before, and unrelated to,
receiving
the printed copies as they were already captured on state.gov accounts.
When will
the emails be released to the public?
Secretary
Clinton has asked the Department to make her emails available as soon
as
possible. She is proud of the work that she and the public servants at
the
Department did during her four years as Secretary of State and is
looking
forward to people having the chance to see that for themselves.
REACTIONS...
Rick
Santorum
For Immediate Release
March 10, 2015
Contact: Virginia Davis
Matt
Beynon
***STATEMENT***
Santorum responds to Clinton's email scandal press conference
VERONA,
PA - Former Republican presidential candidate, U.S. Senator, and
Chairman of Patriot Voices Rick Santorum issued the following statement
in response to Secretary Clinton's news conference to address her email
scandal.
Rick
Santorum said: "It was disappointing that Secretary Clinton did not
answer the most important questions on the minds of Americans regarding
how she may have put their security at risk and why she erased emails
from her private server at a time when she was our nation's leading
diplomat. Secretary Clinton may now recognize that she made a
mistake,
but her true lapse in judgment was not recognizing from the start that
she should not have used a personal email account to conduct national
security business. Secretary Clinton's press conference today
only
raises more questions about her tenure at the State Department and she
must be more forthcoming with the American people in the days ahead
because it does matter."
###
In effect, @HillaryClinton told us to
trust her. Nothing in her track record suggests we should do so.
Iowa
Republican Party
March 10, 2015
Statement from Chairman
Kaufmann:
"Hillary
Clinton has been inside her D.C. bubble for so long that she's
forgotten what it means to be a public servant. Mrs. Clinton said
nothing to assuage concerns that she is hiding important State
Department emails on her private server, and worse, she admitted
to deleting emails. This most recent controversy is only the
latest
reason why Iowa is not ready for Hillary and her shady tricks."
Select
Committee
on
Benghazi
Gowdy Statement on Clinton Press Conference
Washington, DC- Select Committee on Benghazi Chairman Trey
Gowdy, R-S.C., issued the following statement in response to the press
conference held by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton:
“Having finally heard from Secretary Clinton about her exclusive use of
personal email with which to conduct official business while serving as
Secretary of State, regrettably we are left with more questions than
answers. For instance, there remain serious questions about the
security of the system she employed from a national security
standpoint, who authorized this exclusive use of personal email despite
guidance to the contrary from both her State Department and the White
House, who had access to the server from the time Secretary Clinton
left office until the time—almost two years later—the State Department
asked for these public records back, and who culled through the records
to determine which were personal and which were public.
“Without access to Secretary Clinton’s personal server, there is no way
for the State Department to know it has acquired all documents that
should be made public, and given State’s delay in disclosing the fact
Secretary Clinton exclusively used personal email to conduct State
business, there is no way to accept State’s or Secretary Clinton’s
certification she has turned over all documents that rightfully belong
to the American people. That is why I see no choice but for Secretary
Clinton to turn her server over to a neutral, detached third-party
arbiter who can determine which documents should be public and which
should remain private. Secretary Clinton alone created this
predicament, but she alone does not get to determine its outcome. These
public records at issue are broader than Libya and broader than
Benghazi. The Secretary of State has enormous responsibility and
jurisdiction and the public, the media and Congress have a legal right
to access these public records without impediment.
“Because Secretary Clinton has created more questions than answers, the
Select Committee is left with no choice but to call her to appear at
least twice. The first appearance will be to clear up her role and
resolve issues surrounding her exclusive use of personal email to
conduct official business. This is necessary to establish our Committee
has a complete record with respect to Secretary Clinton’s time in
office. Our committee will then call her to appear before the Committee
in a public hearing to answer questions specifically regarding Libya
and the Benghazi terrorist attacks that took the lives of our four
brave fellow citizens.”
American Bridge 21st Century
To: Interested Parties
From: Brad Woodhouse,
President,
American
Bridge
21st
Century
Date: Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Re: 10 Questions For Jeb Bush
And One For The Media
I have one question for the media. If y'all are going to spend
every waking moment obsessing over the minutiae of Hillary Clinton's
email habits, why shouldn't Jeb Bush -- whose usage of private emails
and servers during his tenure as governor is strikingly similar to
Clinton's -- be subject to the same scrutiny?
If anything, Governor Bush has more issues with his transparency
than Secretary Clinton, and he's done far less to address them.
So here are ten questions he should
answer:
1. If Bush sent and received over
3 million emails as governor,
as
he has said himself, how are we to believe
only
250,000 were public records?
2. How did Jeb Bush decide which emails
were public records and which staff members were in charge of that
process?
3. What key issues were discussed in
the 90% of emails that remain unreleased? The 2000 recall? Terry
Schaivo?
4. Did Jeb Bush delete emails, or are
the remaining emails all preserved somewhere?
5. When did Jeb Bush
finish
handing
over
emails to the state archives of Florida, and did
he comply with
state
law?
6. Jeb Bush
also had a private
server -- why did he think that was necessary?
7. Where was the Bush server located?
8. Why did Bush staff members and family members
have emails on the
server?
9. As Governor of Florida, and brother of the President,
Jeb Bush engaged with
foreign
leaders
and
the
White
House
-
was
that
server
secure
for
such
important communications, and are any of those emails being hidden?
10. Did Jeb have multiple email
devices, or did he use all emails from the same government issued
phone?
Republican
National
Committee
March 11, 2015
FROM: RNC Research Director and
Deputy Communications Director Raj Shah
TO: Interested Parties
RE: Clinton’s Deceptive Press
Conference
The reviews are in. Hillary Clinton’s much-awaited press conference was
a huge disappointment for the American people. In classic Clintonian
fashion, she refused to apologize for
any wrongdoing, failed to be honest or candid, and above
all, refuses further disclosure. Now we’re left with more
questions than answers.
“CONVENIENCE"
First, she claimed that she used private email and a private server for
“convenience.” She just didn’t want to use two devices, which is an odd
thing to say for someone who just weeks ago said
she
used
two devices—both an iPhone and a Blackberry, in addition to an
iPad and a mini iPad.
She said that the server was needed for her husband’s email. But
President Clinton’s aides told the Wall Street Journal he
hasn’t
emailed since leaving office. The server was also set up just
as she was starting her job as Secretary of State. Curious timing.
Also, as many people are asking: how exactly is going to all the
trouble of setting up a personal server in your home “convenient”?
COMPLYING WITH THE RULES
Next, Clinton said she complied with all the rules. That is
demonstrably false.
She violated a 2005 rule. In 2005, according to the
Washington
Post, the State Department updated “the Foreign Affairs manual
to state that ‘sensitive but unclassified’ information should not be
transmitted through personal e-mail accounts.”
She violated a 2009 rule. In 2009, federal regulations were updated
requiring employees using non-government email to “ensure that Federal
records sent or received on such systems are preserved in the
appropriate agency recordkeeping system.”
She violated a 2011 rule. In 2011, a State Department cable bearing her
signature warned employees to “avoid conducting official Department
business from your personal e-mail accounts.”
And she violated the
employee
regulations that she made all other State Department personnel
comply with.
Even
MSNBC
fact
checked this assertion, with liberal host Lawrence
O’Donnell saying Clinton’s secret email server “was not in compliance
with” State Department regulations.
PRECEDENT
Clinton pointed to precedent to excuse her behavior. But there is no
precedent. Secretary Colin Powell preceded the rules in question.
Secretary Condoleezza Rice used a .gov email. Secretary John Kerry uses
a .gov email.
Hillary Clinton’s questionable and risky behavior was, to use a word
from her press conference, “unprecedented.”
MOVING THE GOAL POSTS
Team Clinton is moving the goal posts. Last week, they claimed that 90%
of her emails were handed over to the State Department. But yesterday,
Hillary said that only 50 percent of her emails were related to
business, and the other 50 percent she kept secret. Nevertheless, Team
Clinton allowed the “90%” figure to be reported over and over,
uncorrected.
HACKING
Clinton claimed that her server, which could have housed sensitive
government information, was never hacked. But she does not know that.
She cannot prove it.
THE BIGGER ISSUE
But the biggest issue remains: her email will remain private. She will
not allow a neutral arbiter to review the emails or access the server.
The only emails the State Department will have are the emails that
Hillary Clinton wants it to have.
She offered the public no assurances beyond a Trust Me argument. We
have no idea if she’s telling the truth, and Hillary Clinton has done
little to earn the public’s trust. After all, she only gave this press
conference out of pressure from the media, not out of any personal
desire to be honest and transparent.
NBC’s Chuck Todd said the public deserves “more than an explanation.”
He’s right. The public deserves an apology and true transparency.
We also deserve more answers.
REMAINING QUESTIONS
Because the press conference was so short, there are many unanswered
questions:
Did the State Department approve of her email scheme?
Did anyone at the White House approve of her email scheme?
Did she send sensitive but unclassified information over her
personal email?
Did she email about official matters with top advisor and State
Department official Huma Abedin who also had an address on Clinton’s
private server?
Did she actually email with her husband whose aides tell the press he
doesn’t email?
Does she find the two devices she uses today inconvenient?
And what about the Clinton Foundation’s acceptance of foreign donations
while Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State, a question she
substantively ignored?
Did she ever use her personal email to solicit donations to the
foundation? Did she do so as Secretary of State?
When is the next press conference to answer all the remaining questions?
###
On
March 18 the Associated Press sued the State Department in U.S.
District Court over unfulfilled FOIA requests...
Society of Professional Journalists
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 13, 2015
Contacts:
Dana Neuts, SPJ President
Jennifer Royer, SPJ Communications Strategist
SPJ supports AP in lawsuit seeking to force
the State Department to release Clinton emails
INDIANAPOLIS –
The Society of Professional
Journalists strongly supports The Associated Press in its
lawsuit
against the State Department in an effort to force the release of email
correspondence and government documents from Hillary Rodham Clinton’s
tenure as secretary of state from 2009 to 2013. On Tuesday, Clinton
revealed that she sent and received about 60,000 emails from her
personal email address during her term, with about half being
work-related. Clinton said she deleted tens of thousands of personal
emails, but turned the remainder over to the State Department.
The
lawsuit follows repeated requests filed by The Associated Press under
the U.S. Freedom of Information Act that have not been honored to date,
including a request made five years ago and others that have been
pending since the summer of 2013. The FOIA requests and the lawsuit
seek materials related to Clinton’s public and private calendars,
correspondence involving aides likely to play roles in Clinton’s
anticipated campaign for president, Clinton-related emails about the
Osama bin Laden raid and NSA surveillance practices, and documents
related to her role overseeing a major Defense Department contractor.
SPJ
expects the State Department to adhere to Freedom of Information laws
and honor The Associated Press’ FOI requests, and any other related
requests in a timely fashion. We need to be able to trust our federal
government to honor the law and to set an example for state and local
governments to follow. It is time for our country’s leaders to set a
good example, stop paying lip service to government transparency, and
actually respect and adhere to the U.S. Freedom of Information Act.
It
is hypocritical for Clinton to speak, as she did as secretary of state,
about the importance of government transparency, criticizing other
governments for not embracing high standards of openness and
transparency with their citizens, while keeping her own emails private
while she served as secretary of state. While Clinton may have
voluntarily turned over approximately half of those emails to the State
Department, she deleted the other half.
In a speech in 2011,
Clinton said, “When a government hides its work from public view, hands
out jobs and money to political cronies, administers unequal justice,
looks away as corrupt bureaucrats and businessmen enrich themselves at
the people’s expense, that government is failing its citizens. And most
importantly, that government is failing to earn and hold the trust of
its people. And that lack of trust, in a world of instantaneous
communication, means that the very fabric of society begins to fray and
the foundation of governmental legitimacy begins to crumble.”
We couldn’t agree more.
Founded
in 1909 as Sigma Delta Chi, SPJ promotes the free flow of information
vital to a well-informed citizenry; works to inspire and educate the
next generation of journalists; and protects First Amendment guarantees
of freedom of speech and press. For more information about SPJ, please
visit spj.org.
-END-
Republican National Committee
March 17, 2015
RNC Sends FOIA Requests to the State Department
WASHINGTON – The
RNC today submitted two FOIA requests to the State Department seeking
copies of the “separation statements” signed by Hillary Clinton and her
top aides and records related to the configuration, vetting, and/or
encryption of Secretary Clinton's personal Blackberry, and if she had
received an exemption for its use.
“Hillary
Clinton clearly violated the spirit of the ‘Separation Statement’ that
she compelled all other Department personnel to sign,” said RNC
Chairman Reince Priebus. “While the State Department has failed to
answer whether she signed the agreement herself, it cannot ignore a
request under the Freedom of Information Act. The RNC intends to learn
whether Clinton violated State Department guidelines in not signing the
statement, or if she signed it making a false statement, and as a
result, violated the law. We will exhaust all administrative options
and will consider potential legal action if the State Department fails
to comply with this request.”
The FOIA requests can be viewed
here and
here.
###
Select
Committee on Benghazi
March 20, 2015
Select Committee on Benghazi Formally Requests Clinton Turn Over
Server to Neutral Third Party
Washington, DC-- Select Committee on
Benghazi Chairman Trey Gowdy today sent a letter requesting former
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton turn over the server she used for
official State Department business to the State Department inspector
general or a neutral third party for independent analysis of what
records should be in the public domain.
“Though
Secretary
Clinton
alone
is
responsible for causing this issue, she
alone does not get to determine its outcome,” said Gowdy, R-S.C.
“That is why in the interest of transparency for the American people, I
am formally requesting she turn the server over to the State
Department’s inspector general or a mutually agreeable third party.
“An
independent
analysis
of
the
private server Secretary Clinton used for
the official conduct of U.S. government business is the best way to
remove politics and personal consideration from the equation. Having a
neutral, third-party arbiter such as the State Department IG do a
forensic analysis and document review is an eminently fair and
reasonable means to determine what should be made public.
“As
I
have
said
many
times, we have no interest in Secretary Clinton’s
personal emails, but the American people have a clear right to the
public records from her time as secretary of State.”
The
letter
transmitted
today
to
the former secretary’s personal attorney
lays out the Select Committee’s exhaustive efforts to acquire her
official communications regarding Libya as part of the committee’s
inquiry into the 2012 Benghazi terrorist attacks.
The
letter
also
notes
the
former secretary’s unprecedented email
arrangement involving the use of private email and a server to maintain
exclusive control over her official record while in office.
Gowdy
has
previously
said
he
would support the server being turned over to a
retired federal judge, an archivist or other inspector general to make
public record determinations, and he reiterated his willingness to work
to find a neutral arbiter that is agreeable to all concerned. He also
stressed the importance of the committee getting a responsive and
complete set of Libya-related documents from State Department to help
expedite the committee’s inquiry.
Editor’s
Note:
Attached
is
a link to the letter Chairman
Gowdy sent to Clinton’s attorney.
Select
Committee on Benghazi
March 27, 2015
Statement Regarding Subpoena Compliance and Server Determination by
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Washington,
DC—Select Committee on Benghazi Chairman Trey Gowdy today
issued the following statement regarding former Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton’s response to the committee’s subpoena. She failed to
produce a single new document and refused to relinquish her server to a
neutral, detached third party for an independent review of potential
public records:
“After
seeking
and
receiving
a
two week extension from the Committee,
Secretary Clinton failed to provide a single new document to the
subpoena issued by the Committee and refused to provide her private
server to the Inspector General for the State Department or any other
independent arbiter for analysis.
“We
learned
today,
from
her
attorney, Secretary Clinton unilaterally
decided to wipe her server clean and permanently delete all emails from
her personal server. While it is not clear precisely when
Secretary Clinton decided to permanently delete all emails from her
server, it appears she made the decision after October 28, 2014, when
the Department of State for the first time asked the Secretary to
return her public record to the Department.
“Not
only
was
the
Secretary
the sole arbiter of what was a public record,
she also summarily decided to delete all emails from her server
ensuring no one could check behind her analysis in the public interest.”
“In
light
of
the
Secretary’s
unprecedented email arrangement with herself
and her decision nearly two years after she left office to permanently
delete all emails and because the equities at stake involve not only
those of the Select Committee and Congress more broadly, but also those
of the American people and their right to the full record of her tenure
as secretary of State, we will work with the leadership of the House of
Representatives as the Committee considers next steps. But it is clear
Congress will need to speak with the former Secretary about her email
arrangement and the decision to permanently delete those emails.”
Select
Committee on Benghazi
March 31, 2015
Select Committee Formally Requests Secretary Clinton Interview on
Email Arrangement
Washington,
DC—Select Committee on Benghazi Chairman Trey Gowdy today sent
a letter requesting former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to appear
before the Committee for a transcribed interview regarding her use of
private email and a personal server for official State Department
business. The letter reads:
Mr. David E. Kendall
Williams & Connolly LLP
725 12th Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20005
Dear Mr. Kendall:
On March 19, 2015, the Committee asked former Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton to provide her personal email server to the Inspector
General for the State Department to ensure the full record of her
tenure as Secretary was preserved. This request allows for a
neutral, detached and independent third-party review of the server to
identify information responsive to this Committee’s subpoena. The
Committee suggested the current Inspector General for the Department of
State—nominated by President Obama and confirmed without a dissenting
vote by the U.S. Senate—to conduct this review independently. The
Committee was then and remains open to the designation of another
neutral, detached, and independent arbiter to review Secretary
Clinton’s server to ensure all relevant records have been preserved and
produced to the Committee consistent with its subpoena.
Secretary Clinton’s refusal to allow the Inspector General to ensure
the public record is complete is not only disappointing but portends to
delay the ability of our Committee to complete its work as
expeditiously as possible. We, therefore, urge the Secretary to
reconsider her position and allow a neutral, detached, and independent
arbiter ensure the public record is complete and all materials relevant
to the Committee’s work have been provided to the Committee.
If the Secretary continues to reject the offer of a neutral review, the
House of Representatives as a whole will need to consider its next
steps. As you know the production of documents made to the Select
Committee represents a very small portion of the total public record
housed in the Secretary’s possession until recently. As such,
other committees of Congress as well as the media and the public at
large have equities in the Secretary’s public record.
Although I have made this abundantly clear, it bears repeating: our
Committee has no interest in any emails related to the Secretary’s
personal, private matters nor is our Committee seeking documents
unrelated to Libya and Benghazi during the relevant time periods. The
Committee is, however, committed to reviewing and considering every
document related to the work the House of Representatives charged us
with doing.
Toward that end and because of the Secretary’s unique arrangement with
herself as it relates to public records during and after her tenure as
Secretary of State, this Committee is left with no alternative but to
request Secretary Clinton appear before this Committee for a
transcribed interview to better understand decisions the Secretary made
relevant to the creation, maintenance, retention, and ultimately
deletion of public records. The Committee is willing to schedule
the interview at a time convenient for Secretary Clinton, but no later
than May 1, 2015.
The Committee believes a transcribed interview would best protect
Secretary Clinton’s privacy, the security of the information queried,
and the public’s interest in ensuring this Committee has all
information needed to accomplish the task set before it.
Once there is a reasonable assurance all documents in the Secretary’s
care, custody and control related to what happened before, during, and
after the attacks in Benghazi have been shared with the Committee, we
will be in a position to schedule her appearance in a public hearing to
constructively discuss these topics. We share the
Secretary’s desire these two conversations take place as quickly and
efficiently as possible, and are willing to expedite both working with
your office, the Secretary’s schedule and our Democrat colleagues on
the Committee. What the Committee cannot do is conclude its work
without assurances the Committee has all relevant information necessary
for us to discharge the duties required of us.
We continue to believe Secretary Clinton’s email arrangement with
herself is highly unusual, if not unprecedented. The decision to
delete these records during the pendency of a congressional
investigation only exacerbates our need to better understand what the
Secretary did, when she did it, and why she did it. While she has
cited a variety of justifications for this arrangement, many questions
and details about the arrangement remain unanswered. These
questions relate to:
- her
decision
to
bypass
an
official government email account;
- whether
she
affirmatively
turned
over
any relevant records during the pendency
of the Accountability Review Board investigation or at any time after
Congress first began investigating the Benghazi attack until December
2014;
- her
decision
to
retain
those
records upon separation from the Department of
State;
- the
methodology
by
which
these
emails were subsequently searched for
evidence of official records; and
- her
decision
to
delete
certain
emails.
The Committee also reiterates pending the resolution of this matter the
server and any associated information, data, backups, and equipment
must be preserved wherever they reside and that any further deletion or
destruction of data or information must cease. As you should be
well aware, it is technically possible in many instances to recover
electronic information notwithstanding whether it has been “deleted” or
overwritten. It is precisely for this reason a neutral and
objective party must have access to the server and related equipment to
identify information potentially responsive to relevant laws and
investigative requests.
We look forward to working closely with you to schedule both Secretary
Clinton’s private transcribed interview related to her email
arrangement as well as her public appearance before the Committee.
Sincerely,
Trey Gowdy
Chairman
Editor’s Note: Attached is a
link to the letter Chairman
Gowdy sent to Clinton’s attorney.
Freedom
Watch
March 24, 2015
Klayman Files RICO Racketeering Case Against Hillary and Bill
Clinton and their Family Foundation Over Email Scandal
Criminal Enterprise
Alleged to Occur Over 10 Years Culminating in
Present Email Scandal Conceived to Hide Incriminating Evidence and
Obstruct Justice
Washington, D.C., March 25, 2015). Today, Larry Klayman, founder of
Freedom Watch and a former federal prosecutor, filed a civil suit
against Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton and their family foundation
alleging criminal violations under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt
Organizations Act ("RICO"). The suit was filed before the U.S. District
Court for the Southern District of Florida, Civil Action No.
9:15-cv-80388. A copy of the complaint can be viewed at
www.freedomwatchusa.org.
The lawsuit alleges a pattern over ten years of the Clintons engaging
in two or more predicate acts constituting a criminal enterprise,
designed to enrich them personally. In this regard, Klayman alleges
that the Clintons – through mail and wire fraud, and various false
statements – misappropriated documents which he was entitled to receive
and possess under the Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA") concerning
Hillary Clinton's involvement in releasing Israeli war and
cyber-warfare plans and practices. The complaint alleges that Hillary
Clinton orchestrated this release to harm and thwart Israeli plans to
preemptively attack Iranian nuclear sites to stop the Islamic nation's
march to producing atomic weapons. Another FOIA request called for the
production of Mrs. Clinton's and other State Department's records which
refer or relate to the granting of waivers for persons, companies,
countries and other interests to do business with Iran, thereby
undermining the economic sanctions. These acts are alleged to be the
result of the defendants selling government influence in exchange for
bribes from interests which have donated to The Clinton Foundation,
paid huge speaking fees to the Clintons and other means. The present
email scandal is alleged to cover up evidence of these and other
related crimes by hiding emails that would incriminate the Clintons and
their foundation.
Klayman issued this statement:
"This is the first and only hard-hitting case to address the growing
email scandal. What Hillary Clinton, her husband, and their foundation
have done is nothing new. It is simply part of a criminal enterprise
which dates back at least 10 years, all designed to enrich themselves
personally at the expense of the American people and our nation. It's
time, however, that they finally be held legally accountable."