At the first Democratic debate on Oct. 13, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she had answered all the questions about her email scandal. But Secretary Clinton hasn’t actually been questioned, at least not under oath, about her email usage and hiding government records from the American people.
She will, however, be questioned when she testifies under oath before the House Select Committee on Benghazi on Oct. 22, and here are seven questions that she should be asked.
1. You have said that your private server and use of a personal email account was allowed. Who specifically authorized it? Or was it not specifically approved, but simply your reading of the law that it was permitted?
2. We understand your explanation that you used a personal email for convenience reasons, but why then did several of your aides, including Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills, use personal email accounts and Abedin even use your personal server? Why did this occur if it was not an effort to communicate in secret about government related issues?
3. You were presumably aware of the Freedom of Information Act and your duty to preserve your emails. You knew you were emailing other State Department employees using their personal emails, and that all of those emails would be kept secret and would never be subject to FOIA requests. Why, then, did you only provide your emails to the State Department upon an investigation and request?
4. You have said that you did not send or receive information marked classified. Were you aware that information could later be deemed classified and you were storing government information on a private server? Do you believe that what Gen. David Petraeus did was wrong and that he should have been prosecuted? Why is your situation different?
5. Numerous emails between you and others were not included in the emails you produced, but were produced by others. It would be a fair assumption that those are not all of your missing email. Do you have any estimation of how many work-related emails you destroyed?
6. There are multiple examples of overlap of Clinton Foundation and State Department business. How did you determine whether you and your aides’ emails were personal or State Department business? Did you personally review either the emails produced or the emails deleted?
7. If you become president, would you ever let anyone in your administration use a personal email or private server?
During her tenure as secretary of state and afterward, documents and information that should have been available to other government bodies and citizens through FOIA requests were simply hidden. Although Secretary Clinton has answered selective questions about her email usage, she has not explained why her decision to use a private email and server, which thwarted the effect of the Freedom of Information Act and could have had national security implications, should be tolerated by any government official. At a minimum, these questions need to be answered.
The reason these questions need to be asked is that the American people deserve to know the truth. The reason they need to be answered goes beyond that. In the 43 years since Watergate, there has not been a more high profile case involving government ethics and transparency. The consequences of this case will redound to the highest levels of government, and they will send a signal, either good or bad, down to the smallest level of government. While this case involves the White House, the precedent it sets goes down to your local school board. Let’s get it right.
Matthew Whitaker, a former U.S. attorney, is executive director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, a non-partisan government ethics watchdog organization. Thinking of submitting an op-ed to the Washington Examiner? Be sure to read our guidelines on submissions.
