HILLARY’s EMAILGATE: The Height of Hubris and Chutzpah

Former Secretary of State Effectively and Illegally Operated A Parallel Government

There are many deeply disturbing aspects about Hillary Clinton’s secret operation whereby she ran her own email server for all of her U.S. State Department business. As a matter of fact, there are so many profound violations of law and broken department regulations involved it’s a wonder Ms. Clinton hasn’t been arrested and imprisoned — WITHOUT BAIL.

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DISCLAIMER
SOTN has no dog in this fight as we have no party affiliation whatsoever. Our commentary strives to be the product of objective political analysis and unbiased government oversight. While we do feel that Hillary Clinton is totally unfit to run for POTUS, we feel the very same way about Jeb Bush as well as many other prospective candidates on both sides of the aisle.

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As Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton made a quite fateful decision to use exclusively her personal email account to conduct her official State Department business. Further complicating this unacceptable procedure, she housed and ‘secured’ all email data on her own personal server which was registered to her home address in Chappaqua, New York!

“… Clinton’s private server was registered to her home address in Chappaqua, with the name of “Eric Hoteham”.”[1]

Just in case the reader failed to understand the seriousness of this breach of the public trust, it will be re-stated as follows:

The former Secretary of State, in the conduct of some of the most highly classified and ultra-secret business of any branch of the U.S Federal Government, did so utilizing an unregulated, unmonitored and unsecure server which appears to have been located in her personal residence.

Why does this unjustifiable behavior pose such a HUGE problem?

There are many obvious reasons why such official conduct is unlawful and illegal, irresponsible and negligent, contemptible and reprehensible.

What follows is a list of those reasons, each one of which constitutes an actionable offense which ought to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

(1) Hillary Clinton essentially functioned as her own completely unsecured gatekeeper for all email communications, both to and from her. In that capacity she was wholly unqualified and, more importantly, incapable to determine what type information/data might be sent to her. If a subordinate emailed her extremely sensitive (and/or classified) State Department info/data concerning a grave international event in Asia, how was she to know that it was coming. Those emails could then be intercepted by any hacker, anytime, unknown to Ms. Clinton and her personal ‘home-based’ State Department. Likewise, those same emails would then sit on her ‘home-based’, unsecured server completely vulnerable to the many agents of nation-states the world over who might want access to such coveted information.

(2) Hillary Clinton, throughout her tenure as Secretary, never responded to any FOIA requests because they were received by the U.S. Department of State, not by her office. Being a lawyer by training, she somehow felt that her official communications were immune to the prying eyes of the public which she was sworn to serve. Consequently, all email communications during her service were unavailable for legally submitted FOIA requests. That she would so casually ‘opt out’ of the long established U.S. Government system of email communications, record-keeping and info retrieval is as inconceivable as it is unprecedented.

(3) Every time Ms. Clinton sent an email to another Cabinet Secretary or State department head, President Obama or the Joint Chiefs of Staff, she exposed those individuals to her completely insecure email system. Being unable to inform any recipient of the unauthorized arrangement — because of her gross lack of judgment to proceed with such a reckless scheme — she then exposed every employee of the government to her illicit and inherently flawed system. Who knows how many times Ms. Clinton put at risk state department employees around the world who she was in close communication with about delicate diplomatic events, dangerous military developments or dire affairs of state.

Consulate in Benghazi after attack

Hopefully the reader is beginning to understand just how serious her multi-year crime spree (as well as transgressions of protocol) was dating from January 2009 through February 2013.

What are federal government bureaus and departments, after all, except entities and/or places where communications — both classified and otherwise — are housed and secured and properly archived?

What are some of the other critical lapses in Ms. Clinton’s homestyle email server setup?

(4) Ms. Clinton had to be directed to return her emails to State, as in being compelled by a formal request well after the fact. She did not voluntarily turn them over. She also claimed to have submitted the forms concerning all documentation, which are required at the termination of one’s civil service. The State Department formally acknowledged that Ms. Clinton never completed or submitted the proper paperwork regarding official documentation which occurs when one’s tenure in office comes to an end.

“The State Department has no record that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed a standard form declaring that she surrendered all official records before leaving her post in 2013, a spokeswoman said Tuesday.”[2]

Such closure is critical, particularly for government officials operating at such a high level. Does anyone in their right mind ever act in such flagrant disregard for U.S Government rules and regulations? Has anyone else ever performed in a similar manner and then attempted to get away with it in the middle of a closely watched Congressional investigation?

(5) The attack on the U.S. Mission at Benghazi, Libya and aftermath presents another perfect example of how Ms. Clinton used her email setup to subvert a Congressional investigation and thwart a necessary inquiry into what and how it all happened. That four State Department employees died, the U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens’ being a quite violent and horrible death, gave cause for legitimate concern about her actions before, during and after the surprise attack on the American consulate. Not only was Ms. Clinton not forthcoming in providing all legally protected State Dept. communications surrounding that event, she eventually released a paltry few which she herself vetted. In so doing she essentially violated the terms of a Congressional subpoena. Ms. Clinton then went on to wipe her server clean knowing that the Select Committee on Benghazi wanted legal access to all emails that were in any way connected to the Benghazi fiasco. She was only able to get away with such behavior because she knew that she owned and controlled her server; hence, “The Former Secretary of State Effectively – and Illegally – Operated A Parallel Government”.

(6) The House of Representatives’ Select Committee on Benghazi has repeatedly issued requests to Ms. Clinton for any and all communications related to the tragic events in Benghazi. How else could they understand and therefore prevent what occurred there from happening at another diplomatic mission? Chairman Trey Gowdy has been unusually patient with ex-Secretary Clinton and has only seen his every request stonewalled at every turn. He understands that Ms.Clinton had no legal right to house government email communications on or in her personal property. He also knows that she broke the law by violating various federal statutes when she wiped the server clean. This unparalleled conduct can only be viewed as a premeditated crime to obstruct a vital Congressional inquiry. Hence, there are now many allusions being made to Richard Nixon’s alleged actions which occurred in the wake of the Watergate burglary. It is crucial to understand that Nixon never took complete ownership of any official records, nor did he personally dispose of them, yet he was impeached and forced to ignominiously resign from the highest office in the land.

Where is the Democratic Party on this matter?
Where do her rabid Clintonistas stand?

There are many other serious problems with Ms. Clinton’s official conduct and improvised email setup which will be taken up in the next report. However, there is one very important matter which has developed ever since her extraordinary email wrongdoings came to light.

It would seem that the Democratic Party would do everything in its power to address this situation in a manner that inspired confidence. Instead, the DNC leadership does everything possible to demonstrate their support for Ms. Clinton. It appears that their loyalty is not to the rule of law, or the country, or the proper running of government; rather, it is shamelessly given to a admitted lawbreaker who aspires to the presidency.

That the Democratic Party leadership has not distanced themselves from Ms. Clinton, in light of the historic violations of the public trust due to this Emailgate of her own doing, is as shocking as it is unthinkable. The Democrats have now lost all credibility. The DNC leadership has particularly undermined the electorate’s confidence in their ability to nominate a responsible presidential candidate. In view of the disastrous vetting process that Barack Obama was taken through — especially given the absence of a legitimate birth certificate — it is difficult to understand why they would continue to promote a Clinton candidacy.

What is equally troubling is the deafening silence on the part of the normally rabid Clintonistas. These extraordinarily blind and brainwashed voters will blithely condone any conduct on the part of a Clinton, no matter what the outrage. That the Clinton behavior is so repugnant to the very notion of a healthy constitutional republic or its democratic institutions seems not to matter one iota to them. They are politically lost souls who are at once profoundly unpatriotic, often extremely selfish and committed only to their narrow self interest, as well as hopelessly addicted to political deception.

This very sad state of affairs truly represents a watershed event for America. When a nation as powerful as the USA is continually led by ~~lawyers~~ liars who are in actuality criminally insane psychopaths, the future cannot be good. If Hillary Clinton is not held strictly to account for her unseemly actions, and inactions, this Republic will have been fundamentally undermined that much more going into the next election cycle. Cynicism and suspicion will abound, festering anger and justifiable rage will act out in ways that just may tear this nation apart.

Perhaps that is exactly where we are heading.

Conclusion

Certainly Hillary Clinton would have never attempted such a misguided and foolhardy email scheme unless she thought that she could get away with it. And that she did. Just like everybody within the Obama Administration has seemingly gotten away with all sorts of crazy and cock-eyed conduct. Truly, lawlessness and anarchy seem to be the hallmark of President Obama’s leadership style.

Rather, that would be NO leadership at all, as one might witness in a typical banana republic south of the border. We mean no disrespect to those small countries that are only doing their best in the face of very challenging circumstances; however, a tyrant is a tyrant no matter where their ‘throne’ is located. It appears that Obama completely enabled Clinton to get away with her deplorable public service. Obviously he had her email address — [email protected] — and he knew it did not end with .gov. He also knew that it was a personally owned email address by the “clintonmail.com“.

Therefore, Barack Obama & Company is as much responsible for this unrivaled debacle as Clinton herself is. He has run his presidency like a amateurish Homeowner’s Association wherein he does whatever he wants to do, and doesn’t do whatever he doesn’t want to do, regardless of federal law! Regardless of the Constitution! Regardless of the Bill of Rights! Regardless of Congressional threats that he stick to enforcing the law, not legislate it! Regardless of SCOTUS rulings! Regardless of relevant state statutes!

In this way, Barack Hussein Obama has created an environment throughout the U.S. Federal Government whereby anarchy has flourished as at no other time in American history. Hillary Clinton, being the highly secretive and predatory political opportunist that she is, merely took advantage of this hospitable climate in which to run her own tyranny.

State of the Nation
March 29, 2015

Author’s Note
The interesting thing about this whole interminable episode is that Hillary would have never been found out had she not fought so vigorously with the Benghazi House investigators. All they were doing was carrying out the mandate of the Select Committee on Benghazi. Toward that end they were obligated to review all pertinent correspondence (especially email) of the Secretary of State.

How else could they possibly assure the American people that another Benghazi would not happen in the future? However, Clinton would not give even an inch when she was obliged to give a mile! Even though she was statutorily obligated to provide unfettered access to every single communication ever produced concerning the matter, she dug herself in like no subpoenaed public servant in U.S. history.

In so doing, she not only potentially put current and future ambassadors and their consulates in harm’s way, she also put her own political career in great jeopardy — BIG time! When the whole truth comes out, her legacy as a public servant is likely to be tarnished beyond repair. And, she ought to consider herself very fortunate if she is able to stay out of prison.

As the title states: HILLARY’s EMAILGATE: The Height of Hubris and Chutzpah