White House, Washington D.C.

Hillary Clinton’s email scandal continues to grow, but it’s time to bring some perspective that is being missed in the media. I wrote in March, when this story first broke, that this was a big a deal! Hillary Clinton stated that she knew what classified was and did not receive or send any classified information.

I wrote that her claim was patently false at the time, and I basically stated that when Hillary was talking about her understanding of what “classified” is referred only to what comes with a big blue, Confidential, or red Secret or Top-Secret cover sheet and markings before every paragraph indicating whether it’s classified or not. Based upon her comments, that is her understanding of what classified is! Unfortunately for Hillary, and more importantly for the country, she is so a blatantly wrong that it proves without a shadow of a doubt that she doesn’t know what classified is.

Classified information is so sensitive, so damaging, that if revealed it can harm, even gravely harm, the security of the United States. The rule, literally, is when in doubt you have to assume that something is classified. Security Clearance holders are legally bound to treat information as such, which is why using a protected and certified government system is the only legal mechanism. Hillary Clinton is apparently oblivious of this, and having been a first lady, a senator and the Secretary of State, I’m sure with a TS security clearance in two if not all three circumstances, should be completely aware of it. If she’s ignorant, then that is in and of itself a condemnation and a career ender. She is supposed to protect national security and our Nation’s secrets. If she put her self interests above the country, then she is also unqualified to hold further office.

There is another type of classified information that Hillary ignored when setting up her private server. Individual emails or individual statements within the server may be completely unclassified but when aggregate with other emails that might by themselves be unclassified, together CAN constitute classified information. Even up to Top-Secret or worse even TS-SCI (Secret Compartmented Information), which is beyond TS. For Example: One email which states that there’s an informant in northern Africa that provided information about Libya, by itself might not be classified. A second email that specifically names an agent in North Africa might also alone be unclassified. Put those two emails together and they might be TS-SCI as they name the agent and tie them to Libya. That agent would be compromised.

The aggregation of information of some 35,000 deleted emails, and we have to take Hillary’s word on this right now, plus the 55,000 pages that she turned over must be classified, probably highly classified, and there’s no doubt that the Russians have it. I don’t think there can be any doubt that the Chinese have it. And scores of others potentially have it. When she exposed all of the information on her server in aggregation, the potential is devastating to national security.

In a sane and accountable America Hillary Clinton would have effectively removed herself from any possibility of holding public office. She can’t be trusted! Her only rational concern right now should not be the presidency, but whether she’s going to jail and for how long.

Updates:

• FBI Could Derail the Clinton Presidential Train
• We now know that Hillary’s right hand woman, Huma Abedin, also used Hillary’s un-secure server, and send information about the former first lady’s travel plans, including hotels, which could itself compromise the former Fist Lady’s safety.
• Uh-Oh…FBI recovering scrubbed emails. Also searching for remnants of hacking.