Bernie Sanders must go on the offensive politically regarding the FBI's investigation of Clinton's emails and address the serious national security implications of this controversy. The current spin regarding the latest State Department report, from the Clinton campaign and supporters, focuses solely upon record-keeping. The mounds of paper Hillary Clinton would have needed to print (in order to abide by existing guidelines), or the archaic technology at the State Department have been integral to creating the narrative this story is simply about "emails."
However, a recent CNN piece titled State Department report slams Clinton email use explains how the report destroys Clinton's convenience narrative. The State Department report sates the Inspector General's office "found no evidence that the Secretary requested or obtained guidance or approval to conduct official business via a personal email account on her private server."
Therefore, since nobody at the State Department authorized Clinton's server, and she broke State rules and guidelines, her convenience excuse is now obsolete.
Every legal defense of Clinton rests upon the notion that convenience, and not intent, was the reason to own a private server for both work and personal emails.
Today, we know that Clinton's email practices weren't condoned, by either the president or State; intent is now front and center in this story. If Hillary Clinton intentionally used a private server to hide communication from the government and public, legal consequences are certain. However, gross negligence is enough to prosecute under the Espionage Act, and Clinton somehow managed to transfer Top Secret information onto an unguarded private server.
Bernie Sanders should address the Top Secret intelligence, at this juncture and before indictments. Transferring state secrets onto a private server is a felony, and something Colin Powell and others never did, when using private email.
Clinton's email controversy isn't about "emails." Rather, it's the reality Clinton could have easily jeopardized national security.
First, the 22 Top Secret emails on Hillary Clinton's server contained Special Access Program information. This threat to national security is highlighted by NBC News in a piece titled Hillary Clinton Emails Held Info Beyond Top Secret: IG:
Emails from Hillary Clinton's home server contained information classified at levels higher than previously known, including a level meant to protect some of the most sensitive U.S. intelligence, according to a document obtained by NBC News.
In a letter to lawmakers, the intelligence community's internal watchdog says some of Clinton's emails contained information classified Top Secret/Special Access Program, a secrecy designation that includes some of the most closely held U.S. intelligence matters...
The declarations cover "several dozen emails containing classified information determined by the IC element to be at the CONFIDENTIAL, SECRET and TOP SECRET/SAP information."
...While she was secretary of state from 2009 to 2013, Clinton conducted government business over private email. The arrangement was particularly unusual because the email system relied not on Yahoo or Google but her own server, which she kept in her home in Westchester County, N.Y.
If Bernie Sanders had managed to transfer SAP intelligence onto a private server in Vermont, rest assured the Clinton campaign would have accused him of treason.
If the State Department just confirmed that Clinton broke rules, and it's not "convenient" to circumvent guidelines without approval, then intent must be an aspect of this controversy.
SAP intelligence often times pertains to government programs so secretive, the United States denies their existence. These programs and projects could deal with anything from battling ISIS, to combating the threats posed by enemy nations and adversaries.
Intentionally transfer SAP intelligence anywhere other than secure government networks and guess what happens? For my many fans in the Clinton campaign, I explain here (118,000 views and 2,5000 up votes since May 21) why indictments of the former Secretary of State are imminent.
Bernie Sanders, before the California Primary, should address the fact that Top Secret and SAP intelligence was found on a private server; utilized because Clinton intentionally chose to hide personal emails. Since even Chuck Todd isn't buying the convenience excuse, there's an obvious element of premeditation regarding owning the server. Furthermore, knowing that she'd be receiving Top Secret intelligence only adds to the belief that Clinton risked national security (by utilizing an unencrypted server), for the sake of hiding emails from Republicans, or the public.
This element of intent is further highlighted by the number of emails deleted, and the fact that Top Secret intelligence was combined with personal correspondence on a private server. According to ABC News, around half of Clinton's emails as Secretary of State were deleted and deemed personal:
The big headline from Hillary Clinton's news conference Tuesday was that, although she claims to have turned over all work-related emails, she deleted the rest of her emails and it appears there is no way to read them ever again.
But one important point regarding how her team determined which of Clinton's 62,320 e-mails were work-related and which were "personal and private" may have been glossed over...
"This review did not involve opening and reading each email," Time reported. "Instead, Clinton's lawyers created a list of names and keywords related to her work and searched for those. Slightly more than half the total cache -- 31,830 emails -- did not contain any of the search terms, according to Clinton's staff, so they were deemed to be 'private, personal records.'"
...According to that document, here is a summary of how Clinton's attorneys, who were tasked with the job, said they sorted through:
First, a search was done of all emails Clinton received from a .gov or state.gov account during the period she was secretary of state -- from 2009 to 2013.
Then, with the remaining emails, a search was done for names of 100 State Department and other U.S. government officials who Clinton may have had correspondence with during her tenure.
Next, the emails were organized and reviewed by sender and recipient to "account for non-obvious or non-recognizable email addresses or misspellings or other idiosyncrasies."
The results of the searching were that Clinton's attorneys found 30,490 work-related emails and 31,830 emails that were deemed "private and personal."
If Team Clinton's keyword searches were indeed the manner used to define work and personal emails, then there's little assurance that SAP or other forms of classification weren't deleted.
In addition, Bernie could simply focus upon the bizarre fact that in 50 months of work as Secretary of State, 31,830 out of around 60,000 emails were deleted.
So, let's do the math. Around 636 of Clinton's emails per month were personal, which amounts to around 21 emails per day. If Clinton, addicted to her Blackberry (denied by the NSA), spent 10 minutes per email, America is looking at a Secretary of State who spent over 3 hours per day on private emails. I explain Clinton's legendary work ethic in the following YouTube segment.
Simply focusing on the amount of time spent not working, would be enough to highlight that Clinton jeopardized national security.
Finally, I hope my friends at The Daily Beast and Banter and Daily Clinton Inevitability Press have seen my latest MSNBC appearance, since I highlight a number of reasons why Clinton will receive indictments. Also, progressive writers everywhere (who prefer Clinton over Sanders) should watch my latest YouTube segment explaining why Bernie should focus politically on Clinton's emails.
It's essential to provide a counterbalance to so many reporters in the media beholden to Hillary Clinton, which is why my CNN New Day appearance is so important.
Ultimately, Bernie Sanders will win the Democratic nomination, because it's never been about delegate count. Only one Democrat is facing an FBI criminal investigation, and the other candidate is named Bernie Sanders. While it might annoy the Clinton faithful, and the Democratic establishment, Bernie Sanders must go on the offensive politically, regarding the Top Secret intelligence on Clinton's server.
This issue isn't only valid, but something that Clinton would focus upon, if the roles were reversed. Furthermore, I explain here why Bernie Sanders must be ready for Clinton indictments, and the spin from Clinton's campaign after these indictments become reality. Senator Sanders has been extremely gracious thus far, but Clinton's email protocol is a potential threat to national security. SAP intelligence on a private server should disqualify a candidate from the White House, and it's perfectly reasonable for Bernie Sanders to address this fact.
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