Showing posts with label Freedom of Information Act. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Freedom of Information Act. Show all posts

Friday, August 21, 2015

Watchdog: Two National Security Laws Appear Broken in Clinton Email Scandal

Hillary aides refused judge’s order on returning documents
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Clinton and two aides appear to have violated two national security laws by sending classified information on a private email server, according to a former Army counterintelligence agent and investigator for a public interest law group.
Additionally, the two Clinton aides, Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills, disregarded a federal judge’s order this month requiring both to make sworn statements to the court that all government documents in their possession will be returned to federal officials, said Chris Farrell, director of investigations for Judicial Watch, the law group.
“What we have is a secretary of state, the only cabinet official in our history, who established her own private email server … in an effort to avoid the normal protocols for unclassified and classified communications. It’s an end run,” he said.
Farrell, in a briefing on the Clinton email affair at the Judicial Watch offices, said supporters of Clinton have sought to portray the use of the private email system to send classified information as a minor administrative matter.
“It is not,” he said. “It is a national security crime, and should be a national security crime investigation,” he said, noting that Clinton created the private email server a week before she took up her duties at Foggy Bottom, indicating that she planned to avoid using official email that must be stored under federal rules.
Two laws apply to the mishandling of classified data on unsecure networks, Farrell said.
The first is 18 USC Sec. 1924, which outlaws the unauthorized removal and storage of classified information. Penalties can include fines and imprisonment for up to one year.
That statute was used to prosecute retired Army General David Petraeus, a former CIA director who provided classified documents to his mistress and biographer, Paula Broadwell. Petraeus was sentenced to two years’ probation and a $40,000 fine as part of a plea deal in March.
A second federal statute that prosecutors could use to charge Clinton and her aides is 18 USC Sec. 793, a more serious felony statute Farrell described as a “hammer.”
That law covers national defense information and people who misuse it to injure the United States or benefit a foreign power.
Those convicted of violating that law face fines and up to 10 years in prison.
Farrell said he that as an Army counterintelligence officer, he has conducted investigations in the past that are similar to the Clinton email probe. He also worked at a special security officer who was in charge of SCIFs—special facilities used for handling sensitive intelligence.
“When it comes the law on these, intent doesn’t matter,” Farrell said. Mishandling top-secret information should bring down the full weight of the law on violators, he said.
The Clinton email matter is a “serious national security crime issue,” Farrell said. “It’s not two agencies fighting over classification after the fact.”
Judicial Watch currently has 18 lawsuits pending against the State Department seeking access to records under the Freedom of Information Act.

Saturday, June 6, 2015

Classic Trey Gowdy cross-examination: Does President Obama have a private email server?

The State Department is taking Hillary Clinton’s word for it.

That was the message Wednesday when a State Department employee testified in front of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, telling lawmakers she relied on former Secretary Of State Hillary Clinton’s assurances that all relevant emails had been turned over, just as they do with all other employees.

“Like we do with other federal employees we have to depend on them to provide that information to us,” Chief State Department Freedom of Information Act Officer Joyce Barr said.

Rep. Trey Gowdy pounced.

Gently, but with assurance of what the answers would be, the South Carolina Republican led Barr through questions to show no other high-ranking official in the Obama administration  was in a position to provide such assurances.

“Well, you mentioned other federal employees which got me wondering… Attorney General Holder — did he have his own server?” Gowdy asked.
Her answer was no.

“How about new Attorney General Lynch? Does she have a personal server?”
No again.

“What about President Obama — is there any indication — because if you’re going to pursue the theory of convenience, I can’t really imagine a busier person on the globe than President Obama,” Gowdy said, recalling Clinton’s excuse that she used a private server as a matter of convenience. “Did he have his own personal server?”

Via: BizPac Review


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