Hillary's Email Scandal

[Cail]

So with Clinton's airframe disintegrating and Sanders remaining completely unelectable, are we looking at Biden hopping into the race?

[SerScot]

Cail,

Why do you say the Clinton campaign is falling apart?

[Hashi Lebwohl]

Some polls of Democrats and likely Democrat voters indicate that Sanders is pulling into a statistical tie with her; in this sort of race, a tie can be as good as a loss. Even Biden is giving Sanders more approval than Clinton, as is MoveOn.org.

The fact that she isn't the clear leader among a majority of Democrats right now is, as noted, as good as a loss. Biden will likely jump in the race soon and will try to make it seem like it is the right thing to for both for the Democrat Party and the nation; he will likely team up with Sanders to capture that voting bloc, offering the VP spot to Sanders.

[Cail]

Cail,

Why do you say the Clinton campaign is falling apart?

More importantly, why do you think it's not? She's losing her commanding lead to Bernie Sanders, who isn't a real candidate. Investigation after investigation isn't going well for her, and there's a good chance she'll be indicted before summer.

She's failing to connect with Dem voters, and they're panicking. They literally have no one to vote for; only Republicans to vote against.

[Cybrweez]

Ha, sounds like the other side as well...

[Cail]

Ha, sounds like the other side as well...

Well yeah.

But Trump's days are numbered, and Cruz might have himself a bit of a problem with this "birther" thing. Rubio's gotta be feeling good right now.

[Avatar]

Sounds like this is a set-up for "oh god, who do we hate the least?"

--A

[SerScot]

Cail,

Cail,

Why do you say the Clinton campaign is falling apart?

More importantly, why do you think it's not? She's losing her commanding lead to Bernie Sanders, who isn't a real candidate. Investigation after investigation isn't going well for her, and there's a good chance she'll be indicted before summer.

She's failing to connect with Dem voters, and they're panicking. They literally have no one to vote for; only Republicans to vote against.

To be perfectly honest I haven't been paying too much attention to the campaign beyond seeing the latest idiocy spouted by Trump.

[Orlion]

They literally have no one to vote for; only Republicans to vote against.

This pretty much sums up for me, who now considers myself a Democrat.

As far as the investigation with Hillary, I'll just say that Fox News has been reporting the exact same three stories on her for...ever. All we really have are their "sources", whatever those might be. I do not know how the investigations will go, and think that for the most part they do not matter. What matters is the public perception of Hillary. She's weathered Benghazi fairly well, and all she needs to deal with for now is the new Michael Bay movie. So she's golden with that, since any one who has Benghazi as a selling point was never going to voter for her anyway.

The e-mail "controversy" has just become pathetic. People have all ready made up their minds on that, so nothing short of an indictment will change that.

The corruption charges are considerably more serious, and if she can't get a hold on those, the Democrats will probably have a much better chance with Sanders.

[SoulBiter]

They literally have no one to vote for; only Republicans to vote against.

This pretty much sums up for me.

Sounds like the last two elections for me as a Republican. I am really tired of not having a Candidate, that makes it to the actual election, that I am excited about. Just another.... who do I hate the least ***holds nose, pulls handle***

[Rawedge Rim]

They literally have no one to vote for; only Republicans to vote against.

This pretty much sums up for me.

Sounds like the last two elections for me as a Republican. I am really tired of not having a Candidate, that makes it to the actual election, that I am excited about. Just another.... who do I hate the least ***holds nose, pulls handle***

sums up my feelings

[Avatar]

Ah, democracy.

--A

[Hashi Lebwohl]

Ah, democracy.

--A

Exactly. The people who should run for office don't want to (or can't for some reason) and the ones who do run are the type of people we don't really want in office in the first place.

[SerScot]

Hashi,

One of the biggest flaws I see in representative democracy as a form of government is that we give power to people who want power. The US was excedingly lucky in the sense of duty felt by the founding Generation.

[Zarathustra]

As far as the investigation with Hillary, I'll just say that Fox News has been reporting the exact same three stories on her for...ever.

Hillary has done an excellent job stalling the investigations, drawing out the story for years. For instance, she could have disclosed the fact of her private server and given up her emails YEARS ago, but instead that only became known to the public last March due to the Benghazi investigation. And since then, the State Department has been releasing the emails in batches, prolonging the story further. Every time a batch is released, we get new information, which is then reported. It's not Fox News' fault that the facts are taking so long to come out. The fact that they're still reporting on it is to their credit.

I do not know how the investigations will go, and think that for the most part they do not matter.

It's unbelievable that people have this impression. I think it comes from what I mentioned above, that the story has taken so long to come out, that people become desensitized to the bombshell revelations that keep happening. For instance, in Hillary's email's we've discovered the smoking gun proof that she knew that Benghazi wasn't due to a movie, and yet she went on repeating that lie. We also learned recently that she instructed her underlings on how to remove classified headers in emails so that they could send them unsecured--and then has the gall to tell us that she never received any emails MARKED as classified. Yeah, no shit, when you've told your people to removed those classifications!

We have smoking gun after smoking gun--proof that she has committed crimes and misled the American people on grave issues--and people don't even notice. They think it's a Fox News propaganda. Amazing.

Hillary WILL be indicted. The FBI doesn't spend this much time building a case just for the fun of it.

[Hashi Lebwohl]

This isn't about e-mail but the other potential scandal possibly facing Hillary this year is Bill and his history with women.

At least three women—Paula Jones, Juanita Broaddrick, and Kathleen Willey—have accused Bill Clinton of sexual assault or harassment. Clinton has denied all three allegations but settled out of court with Jones. Broaddrick, who accuses Bill Clinton of rape, has said that Hillary Clinton encouraged her to remain silent. Are the allegations fair game in Hillary’s run for the presidency? We discuss with Liza Featherstone, a contributing editor to The Nation, and Suzanna Walters, a professor of sociology and director of the Gender Studies Program at Northeastern University.

AMY GOODMAN: Suzanna Walters, do you think it’s fair to raise Bill Clinton and his past, the allegations of him around women and coercive sexual relations—not clear exactly; this was never brought ultimately into a court of law—when talking about Hillary Clinton?

SUZANNA WALTERS: Yeah, you know what? I don’t think it’s fair. And it’s not even a matter of fair. I think what it reveals is some of the kind of bubbling misogyny that’s going on in this campaign. Look, it would be crazy not to think that a woman, a viable woman candidate, is going to ignite all kinds of latent, not-so-latent, explicit, not-so-explicit misogyny that never is far from the surface of American culture. We saw it with Obama and the kind of disgusting racism that trailed every bit of his presidency, and will, I’m sure, his post-presidency. So the kinds of focus on her marriage, Bill, their history, who cares? I find it absolutely ridiculous, pointless.

Let us talk about the issues. Let’s talk about—it’s a fair debate: Do you think she’s too hawkish? Fine, don’t support her. You think, you know, Bernie is a better candidate? Wonderful. You know? But to demonize her, in any way—to demonize her because of her marriage, to demonize her because of her husband, to demonize her because of her gender—seems to me mistaken and a way in which the left often eats itself, you know, this sort of tearing at each other. We have a real demon out there, more than one. And the Republican Party has been taken over by such right-wing ideologues, who are vehemently and explicitly racist, sexist, homophobic. So I do fear that in ripping ourselves apart, we don’t see the long game, which is making sure that this country does not get in the hands of these kinds of folks, who would damage all of us, and things that we all agree on would be completely undermined. I think the other thing—

AMY GOODMAN: Let me bring Liza Featherstone in—

SUZANNA WALTERS: —yeah.

AMY GOODMAN: —on that issue of bringing in Bill Clinton’s record, personally and professionally.

LIZA FEATHERSTONE: So, I actually—I like the high-minded stance that Bernie Sanders has taken on this of not bringing it up—

SUZANNA WALTERS: Me, too.

LIZA FEATHERSTONE: —and appreciate the spirit in which Suzanna is saying the same. But actually, some of the allegations—I mean, Juanita Broaddrick is a 72-year-old—now-72-year-old woman who many years ago—who says that many years ago she was raped by Bill Clinton. And many people have found her charges pretty credible. She has—there has also been questions of Hillary being instrumental in some kind of cover-up or some kind of pressure on her to retract those charges or to be quiet. And I have no idea what happened. I have no idea whether those things are true. But I actually don’t think that those things should be dismissed. I think, you know, how a woman in power treats a much less powerful woman, who has accused a powerful man of raping her, actually is important. And, you know, I think that some of these—I think sometimes the questions about Bill’s behavior do spill over into questions about Hillary that perhaps really should be addressed, as opposed to, I mean, you know, "Why didn’t she leave him after Monica?" Who cares? I would emphatically agree about that.

No one seemed to care that some of the allegations against Bill Cosby happened 20 or 30 years ago so no one should care that the allegations against Bill Clinton are that old, as well.

On the other hand...those were his actions, not hers. His poor history really doesn't reflect upon Hillary, herself, other than to note that although she probably didn't tolerate it she didn't do anything about it, either--they are still married to this day. Why didn't she divorce him? The answer is trivial--she couldn't afford to divorce him and manage to be elected to Senate or other higher office she was pursuing. We have already had a black President; it might be another decade before we have a female President but we aren't likely to get a divorced/remarried President in my lifetime, which is ridiculous. Show me a politician who hasn't had any affairs and I will show you a politician who knows how to cover his tracks, keep secrets, and pay people off.

On a side note...this Suzanna Walters is about to fall off the left side of the political spectrum. Republicans "terrify" her. *shrug*

edit/add: Now, back on track...

Even more e-mail messages pulled from the server, some of which have a classification above "top secret".

EXCLUSIVE: Hillary Clinton's emails on her unsecured, homebrew server contained intelligence from the U.S. government's most secretive and highly classified programs, according to an unclassified letter from a top inspector general to senior lawmakers.

Fox News exclusively obtained the unclassified letter, sent Jan. 14 from Intelligence Community Inspector General I. Charles McCullough III. It laid out the findings of a recent comprehensive review by intelligence agencies that identified "several dozen" additional classified emails -- including specific intelligence known as "special access programs" (SAP).

That indicates a level of classification beyond even “top secret,” the label previously given to two emails found on her server, and brings even more scrutiny to the presidential candidate’s handling of the government’s closely held secrets.

“To date, I have received two sworn declarations from one [intelligence community] element. These declarations cover several dozen emails containing classified information determined by the IC element to be at the confidential, secret, and top secret/sap levels,” said the IG letter to lawmakers with oversight of the intelligence community and State Department. “According to the declarant, these documents contain information derived from classified IC element sources.”

Intelligence from a "special access program,” or SAP, is even more sensitive than that designated as "top secret" – as were two emails identified last summer in a random sample pulled from Clinton's private server she used as secretary of state. Access to a SAP is restricted to those with a "need-to-know" because exposure of the intelligence would likely reveal the source, putting a method of intelligence collection -- or a human asset -- at risk. Currently, some 1,340 emails designated “classified” have been found on Clinton’s server, though the Democratic presidential candidate insists the information was not classified at the time.

“There is absolutely no way that one could not recognize SAP material,” a former senior law enforcement with decades of experience investigating violations of SAP procedures told Fox News. “It is the most sensitive of the sensitive.”

The article keeps going into more detail; this was just to whet the whistle.

[Avatar]

...Why didn't she divorce him?

Yeah, this is the main reason my GF doesn't like her...lost respect for her when she tolerated Bill's antics.

--A

[SerScot]

Avatar,

What about her working with Bill to tarnish the reputations of women who've accused Bill Clinton of Harrassment and worse?

[Avatar]

Haha, I doubt she knows about it. But when I tell her, she will almost certainly dislike her even more.

--A

[Hashi Lebwohl]

The latest direction of this story will now also include increased scrutiny of some of Hillary's closest advisers from her tenure at State, some of whom still work for her on her campaign.

The longer this drags out the less likely Hillary is to receive any indictments. If the FBI is going to indict her it needs to do so sooner rather than later.