The investigation into Hillary Clinton’s misuse of official email is turning into a full criminal probe,severely complicating her White House bid ahead of what is set to be one of the toughest U.S. presidential elections in years.
The FBI, just like mainstream media, will not let Clinton see the last of her email scandal. The New York Post revealed two weeks ago that four of Clinton’s emails during her time at the U.S State Department were sent through her personal account, and that as a result, the FBI had gotten involved. The revelation led those sympathetic to the democratic frontrunner to doubt the credibility of the information while others welcomed the news.
Previously, when the news first broke, both the FBI and the DOJ had steered clear of the matter, even though evidence against Clinton was in abundance. Not even a fact finding mission was launched causing many analysts to wonder if the establishment was protecting the former first lady and inevitably, the Democratic Party’s biggest hope of another presidency.
However on Wednesday a post by The Washington Post revealed that the FBI had actually began looking into the security of Clinton’s email setup. The post further stated that the authorities were contacting a Denver based tech firm that was linked to the management of the private email in assessing whether a security breach had occurred.
The report further added that the intelligence community was very interested in the matter, being that some of the missing emails contained information whose loss could severely compromise U.S. national security.
In the past, prominent state figures such as former CIA director David Patraeus have been charged for mishandling classified state information. When Clinton chose to send State Department emails through her personal account, similar to what Patraeus was charged with, a crime was committed. In light of these facts an FBI investigation appears long overdue.
Sources have intimated that since the actions amounted to a breach of the federal security statute, the probe is “criminal” in nature. Former federal prosecutor Bradley Simon said “They didn’t hesitate to charge Gen. Petraeus with doing the same thing, downloading documents that are classified. The threshold under the statute is not high — they only need to prove there was an unauthorized removal and retention.”
Clinton’s campaign team has, however, downplayed the investigation as a civil fact finding mission. Clinton herself has said she is “confident” she never knowingly sent any official information through her email, yet knowingly or not could be a moot point. Information merely has to be mishandled to qualify as an offense.
Interestingly, and perhaps betraying her guilt, Clinton has gone on to hire David Kendall, the prominent Williams S. Connolly advocate who coincidentally defended Patraeus over the breach of the same statute.
Clinton’s continued downplaying of her email investigation may just leave her with egg on her face, especially since authorities are growing more involved in the now criminal probe. Senior Democrat party officials are no doubt watching the investigation closely as they decide who should be their official challenger in the 2016 elections.
Stay Connected
