So what did we learn from Hillary Clinton’s press conference at the United Nations (scheduled less than 12 hours ago in a forum where reporters typically have to wait 24 hours to get credentials)?
Why did she use only a personal email account? Because she didn’t want to carry around two email devices. Does this pass the laugh test? How hard is it to carry around two cellphones or Blackberries? Especially if you have a purse to put them in?
Was there a risk that her personal account could be hacked? No, she tells us, because President Bill Clinton used it and it never was. We have just her own say-so on this. No corroboration. And even if that’s true, was it prudent in January 2009 to rely on the security of the Chappaqua home brew server rather than the State Department server? I think one can still conclude that secretary-designate was more concerned about concealing things from the American people than from foreign enemies.
Who decided which of Clinton’s emails were personal and would not be handed over to the State Department? Some unnamed individual working for her. Who was told, she said, to err on the side of turning material over if there was any question it was work-related. So just trust Clinton and her unnamed staffer or staffers. Anyway, she deleted the private emails so you’re never going to have a chance to judge whether they were properly classified. And even if some remain undeleted, she’s not going to turn them over.
How many emails were there? As I heard her, she said there were 60,000 in total, and half were work-related. But what she turned over to the State Department was described as 55,000 pages. That leaves the question of how many pages of emails were not turned over and how many destroyed.
I note that just before Clinton spoke the State Department announced it would be making the 55,000 pages of turned-over emails and that before addressing the email issue Clinton criticized the 47 Republican senators for sending a letter to Iranian leaders, which she characterized as “harmful to the commander in chief.” This looks like evidence of a peace treaty between the White House and Camp Clinton. Other evidence: the White House earlier walked back the statement that the president had not received any emails from Clinton on her personal account and then said he had. For a few days it seemed like President Obama was leaving his former secretary of state out to dry. Now they seem to be patting each other on the back. It would be interesting to listen in on (or read the emails?) the negotiations that led to this apparent switch.
If you were inclined to trust Clinton before the press conference, you were presumably satisfied with her answers. If not, not. Nothing that Clinton said refuted the conclusion that she cared more about concealing information from the American people than about the risk of her email correspondence falling into the hands of America’s enemies.
