Hillary Clinton Tag

Earlier this week, Fox News reported Hillary Clinton's emails contained information from the most secretive, classified sources. Their report was based on a letter obtained from the Intelligence Community Inspector General, Charles McCullough III.

Fox News exclusively obtained the text of the unclassified letter, sent Jan. 14 from Intelligence Community Inspector General I. Charles McCullough III. It laid out the findings of a recent comprehensive review by intelligence agencies that identified “several dozen” additional classified emails — including specific intelligence known as “special access programs” (SAP). That indicates a level of classification beyond even “top secret,” the label previously given to two emails found on her server, and brings even more scrutiny to the presidential candidate’s handling of the government’s closely held secrets.

Blown off as an attack by the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy, Clinton's campaign ignored the specific accusations outlined in the OIG's letter. Friday afternoon, Fox News reported classified information in Hillary's emails exposed intelligence from human spying.

Retired four-star general and former head of the CIA, David Petraeus, may be demoted for his 2012 scandal involving classified material.

The Pentagon is re-examining whether retired Army Gen. David Petraeus should be retroactively demoted for giving his biographer unauthorized access to classified information, defense officials say. While the Army officially determined last year that Petraeus should retain the status — and pension — of a retired four-star officer, that decision is now under review by Defense Secretary Ash Carter’s office, officials said.

This is a troubling development, given that Hillary Clinton is asking to be promoted to Commander-in-Chief despite her allegedly knowledgeable mishandling of classified electronic communications. But is it really fair to compare the two?

SHE'S ONTO US! Wednesday, a spokesman from Democratic presidential frontrunner (?) Hillary Clinton's campaign, "accused the Intelligence Community Inspector General Wednesday of working with Republicans to attack the Democratic presidential front-runner," reports Anita Kumar for McClatchy. In an exclusive report published by Fox News Tuesday, a letter from the Intelligence Community Inspector General Charles McCullough III, "laid out the findings of a recent comprehensive review by intelligence agencies that identified “several dozen” additional classified emails — including specific intelligence known as “special access programs” (SAP)." Also included in the letter was the claim that among the classified information contained in Clinton's emails were data of the most secretive nature. Intelligence Community Inspector General Charles McCullough III was appointed by President Obama and confirmed with laudations from Democrats as the best man for the job. But that's irrelevant. Forget addressing the substantive claims of the Fox News report; Hillary's campaign whipped out an old 90s era retort. Clearly, the Intelligence Community Inspector General was colluding with the vast right-wing conspiracy to undermine her candidacy.

Hillary Clinton's decision to use a private email account while serving as Secretary of State was a security disaster if ever there was one. Not only did she route her personal email account through a home-brewed server (a home-brewed server that was kept in the bathroom), classified information has been found in over 1,000 emails reviewed by the Department of State. Worse still, emails released by the State Department as part of court-ordered monthly document dump suggest Hillary instructed subordinates to remove classified designations from documents in order to send them through insecure channels. Now, the Inspector General says Hillary's emails contained information from the most secretive, classified sources.

Talk about a bad week. Poll numbers tanking, polling shows millennial ladies prefer Bernie, her attempts to connect with minority demographics flopping hard, 13 Hours hits theaters, resurrecting the Benghazi story, and now a second Congressional investigation. This latest investigation centers around the security of Hillary's home-brewed email server used during her tenure as Secretary of State. According to Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), House Science, Space and Technology Committee Chairman:

Understanding these companies’ roles in providing software and services to maintain former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s private email server is critical to improving government cybersecurity standards. A high profile government official deviating from established information security requirements raises significant concerns. The sensitive nature of the information stored on Sec. Clinton’s private server created a unique challenge to ensure all of the information was properly safeguarded. The Committee takes seriously its duty to ensure the NIST Cybersecurity Framework is properly equipped to safeguard our nation’s information.”

Earlier today, the Washington Post compared Hillary's poll numbers from her presidential run in 2008 to data from the current election. The results? Bad news for Mrs. Clinton and her supporters. Philip Bump writes at WaPo:

If we compare where Clinton is now in the Real Clear Politics polling average, the 2016 picture and the 2008 picture aren't really all that similar. Nationally, she was doing much better in 2008 than she is right now, perhaps in part because the anti-Clinton vote in 2008 was still split between two people -- Barack Obama and John Edwards -- instead of just one. But that recent trend line, a function of two new national polls that were close after a bit of a lull, is not very good news.