The inspector general at the State Department says Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton broke federal email rules when she used a private server while she served as secretary of state.
“At a minimum, Secretary Clinton should have surrendered all emails dealing with Department issues before leaving government service,” says an audit by the State Department Inspector General, obtained by NBC News.”Because she did not do so, she did not comply with the [State] Department’s policies that were implemented in accordance with the Federal Records Act.”
The inspector general also lashed out at the State Department:
The report broadly criticized the State Department as well, saying that officials had been “slow to recognize and to manage effectively the legal requirements and cybersecurity risks” that emerged in the era of emails, particularly those of senior officials like Mrs. Clinton.It said that “longstanding systemic weaknesses” in handling electronic records went “well beyond the tenure of any one secretary of state” but the body of the report focused on the 30,000 emails that Mrs. Clinton sent and received on her private server.
They found that she received and sent most of her emails through her Blackberry:
Security and records management officials told the inspector general’s office that “Secretary Clinton never demonstrated to them that her private server or mobile device met minimum information security requirements,” the report said.
Federal law says everyone must preserve all government records. Clinton claims she did this because the majority of the “emails were sent to people the State Department system.” But the inspector general countered her claim by saying “sending emails from a personal account to other employees at their Department accounts is not an appropriate method of preserving any such emails that would constitute a federal record.”
The audit found that Clinton did not ask any of the senior State Department officials to approve her private email server. The inspector general showed confidence that none would have done so if she asked:
“It is clear that the Department could have done a better job preserving emails and records of Secretaries of State and their senior staff going back several administrations,” the State Department said in a statement. “We also acknowledge the report’s finding that compliance with email and records management guidance has been inconsistent across several administrations.”
Throughout the campaign, Clinton has said she did not break any rules:
In March, Professor Jacobson mentioned that her opponent Bernie Sanders has chosen to stay in the race because of the emails:
What is Bernie’s strategy to win? Or in 2016 parlance, what is his “lane” to victory?I don’t see how he does it. But he has enough money to hang on to the convention, and if he can obtain close to 40% of the vote, he has a credible argument that he should be the nominee if Hillary is indicted or the FBI at least makes a criminal referral to the Justice Department. In either of those scenarios, there will be pressure for the convention to hand the nomination to Joe Biden or someone similar.But with Bernie sitting there with a large chunk of elected delegates and popular vote, the Democratic establishment will have a hard time pushing him aside.
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