How bad is Hillary Clinton’s email scandal? Pretty bad.
The former first lady’s attempt to hide thousands of pages of official records by conducting all official business through a secret, insecure private email system has put the American public in the dark. Short of asking the Russian or Chinese intelligence services, who likely have everything by now, there is no way for the people of this country ever to know whether their government has a complete record of Clinton’s official work product at the State Department.
Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., chairman of the Benghazi select committee that discovered the secret email address months ago, noted in a Sunday television interview that there are gaps of “months and months” in the emails that Clinton has handed over in a belated attempt to assist the investigation into the Sept. 11, 2012, murders of four Americans at a diplomatic compound in Libya.
“If you think to that iconic picture of her on a C-17 flying to Libya,” he told Bob Schieffer of CBS’ “Face the Nation,” “she has sunglasses on and she has her handheld device in her hand — we have no e-mails from that day. In fact, we have no e-mails from that trip. So, it strains credibility to believe that if you’re on your way to Libya to discuss Libyan policy that there’s not a single document that has been turned over to Congress.”
Even assuming there is no smoking gun among the still-secret correspondence, this scandal presents a problem bigger than any previous Clinton scandal. The deliberate concealment and withholding of these communications for so long represents a clear, unambiguous violation of federal regulations, Obama administration policy, and of the very same policies Clinton applied to others in her own State Department. Clinton has obstructed the lawful fulfillment of existing Freedom of Information requests that are even now the subject of federal litigation.
This is not just some indiscretion with an intern. It is not just another case of Clinton cronyism or venality. This scandal goes beyond the previous ones, because those only demonstrated the Clintons’ steadfast belief that they are above the law.
This scandal is unique because it also throws Clinton’s competence and even her intelligence into question. The decision to set up this private email server was made consciously by someone who really should have known better. It is stunning, considering the obvious illegality and near-100 percent likelihood that it would someday be discovered.
Clinton was no minor appointee who could be excused for not understanding government policy. She actually fired one of her ambassadors for insisting on using private email.
Who does something like this? Good question. How about: Someone who is too self-centered to do her job properly? Someone who doesn’t understand that laws exist for a reason? Someone who doesn’t understand or care that every communication inside government is property of the United States people, not of herself nor even of the library she plans to house her papers in for posterity after her presidency is over?
Republicans are delighted at the moment by the revelation of this scandal, but Democrats should view it as an opportunity to correct course before it is too late. Democrats would be wise to put Plan B into action right now.
