Politifact look at emailgate

[Bob41213]

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2016/may/12/fbis-investigation-hillary-clintons-emails-recap/

Some notable quotes:

"My experience tells me that Hillary Clinton is a subject of a criminal investigation," Glasser said.

"If this thing was dead on arrival, nobody would be willing to keep this thing going," he said.

[CentralCoaster]

1. "If this thing was dead on arrival, nobody would be willing to keep this thing going,"

Well!

What we know about the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails

By Lauren Carroll on Thursday, May 12th, 2016 at 6:01 p.m.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks during a campaign rally, Wednesday, May 11, 2016, in Blackwood, N.J. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks during a campaign rally, Wednesday, May 11, 2016, in Blackwood, N.J. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

Yes, the FBI is investigating Hillary Clinton’s email setup.

Over the past couple of days, some Clinton critics have made hay over the way her campaign has described the FBI’s probe into her private email server. Clinton and her campaign have called the probe a "security inquiry" regarding information stored on the server, as opposed to a criminal probe.
Half-True
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"I say what I have said now for many, many months: It's a security inquiry," she said on CBS May 8.

But on May 11, reporters met with FBI Director James Comey, and he said he is not familiar with the term "security inquiry." Instead, he said, "we're conducting an investigation. That's what we do."

So is it an "inquiry" or is it an "investigation"? While Clinton might shy away from the word "investigation," this is truly a distinction without a difference. Inquiry is just another word for investigation.

Clinton’s critics jumped on Comey’s distinction as proof that the FBI is on track to prosecute Clinton for mishandling classified information, while her campaign continues to deny that the case will ever get to that point.

While serving as secretary of state, Clinton sent and received emails hosted on a private server located in her New York home, outside the State Department’s proverbial security fence. Clinton says she did this out of convenience but that, in retrospect, it was a mistake.

Here’s what we know about the investigation so far.

The FBI is conducting an investigation. (It’s the Federal Bureau of Investigation, after all.)

Inspectors General from the State Department and the intelligence community referred the case to the Executive Branch in July 2015. The referral memo made clear that the Inspectors General were not suggesting that anyone involved in Clinton’s email setup committed a crime. Rather, they were following their statutory obligation to inform the intelligence community about any potential security breach — namely, that Clinton possibly held classified information on her email server located outside secure government facilities.

Clinton says she never knowingly sent or received classified information, a possibly criminal action.

In August, the FBI picked up the case.

There might be a criminal element to this investigation, in that the FBI is determining if criminal activity occurred in connection with the email setup.

We talked to experts in federal criminal investigations, and they told us that the FBI doesn’t look into issues just for the heck of it. They assess cases to find out whether criminal activity occurred.

"We don’t do these because we’re curious," said Ellen Glasser, a retired FBI special agent who worked on cases regarding mishandled classified information. "There’s a potential that a criminal violation took place."

Glasser, immediate past president of the Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI, emphasized that she has no inside knowledge about the Clinton case beyond what has been publicly reported.

Clinton’s phrasing — calling it a "security inquiry" — is not necessarily wrong, said Mark Pollitt, former chief of the FBI’s computer forensics program. But it obscures the fact that an investigation can be both security-related and criminal.

A reasonable person might take Clinton’s phrasing to mean the FBI is simply conducting a risk assessment of her server to see whether it’s secure. Agents might do that as part of an investigation, but it’s not the end game, Pollitt said.

Some news outlets have reported that the FBI is also looking into whether the server was hacked.

It’s unknown whether Clinton is a "target" of the investigation. That term is reserved for people for whom there is substantial evidence linking them to a crime, according to the prosecutor’s judgment.

Clinton said in March that investigators have not told her that she or any of her staff members are targets of the investigation.

If people ask about their status in an investigation, it’s common practice for the Justice Department to tell them whether they’re targets or not, said Lauren Ouziel, a former federal prosecutor and a professor at Temple University Beasley School of Law.

"If she has been informed by the DOJ that she is presently not a target, then her statement that she is not a target would be accurate," Ouziel said, noting that she has no non-public knowledge of the case.

But of course, Clinton’s actions are clearly front-and-center in the FBI investigation. Based on her knowledge of how classified information mishandling cases proceed, and her understanding of public reports about Clinton’s role in the email setup, Glasser said the FBI is very likely looking at Clinton specifically.

"My experience tells me that Hillary Clinton is a subject of a criminal investigation," Glasser said.

But the FBI has not indicated where the case stands, so it’s impossible to say at this point if they plan to bring charges against Clinton or anyone else.

The FBI doesn’t open an investigation definitely knowing it will seek charges against someone. If an investigation does not reveal evidence of a crime, or if there is insufficient evidence of criminal conduct, then the investigation will close without any charges filed.

"You don’t know if it’s criminal until you get to the end of it," Pollitt said.

[scscholar]

2. Considering they haven't interviewed her yet...

there's no way this is a serious investigation. They're not even using that word.

[TheSarcastinator]

3. Another Camp Weathervane Fail!!

"Investigation" is PRECISELY the word being used by the FBI. Here is their Director (you know, the guy in charge?) stating just that:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/science-technology/article76996202.html

"FBI Director James Comey said Wednesday that he was unfamiliar with the "security inquiry" terminology the Clinton campaign sometimes uses to discuss an ongoing investigation arising from Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server as secretary of state. (...) "I don't know what that means," Comey said when asked about the "security inquiry" language.

He added, "We're conducting an investigation. That's the Bureau's business, that's what we do. That's probably all I can say about it."

[scscholar]

4. Got a video or recording of that?

I read here that he didn't say that, and there has been no evidence presented that he did. This is just wishful thinking by those Republicans. Also, look at your source. It's from NC!

[catnhatnh]

5. Why don't YOU look at his link

and then you would know the source is actually Associated Press.

[scscholar]

6. So according to someone who said someone else said he may have said...

See the problem with that? Got an actual recording of him saying this?

[catnhatnh]

7. The poster provided an AP link

The only problem I have is a pluperfect jackass braying nearby....

[Sweet Freedom]

8. It was a pen-and-pad press conference

A round-table discussion with reporters. No recording allowed. AP (among others) is running the Comey quote.

[scscholar]

10. So in other words, no proof

Just a case of he-said/she-said. This is sad. Without video or even audio evidence, the media is able to get away with making-up anything.

[Sweet Freedom]

12. Yeah!

And of all the things that they could make up, it was brilliant to intentionally misquote Comey and never ever be invited to an FBI pen-and-pad presser — or any other closed conference — ever again.

[scscholar]

11. He didn't say it

Some reporter is reporting that another reporter is claiming he said that. Again, where's the proof? These attacks are getting ridiculous.

[SpareribSP]

13. This is some willful ignorance right here!

Oh come on.

He clearly said there was an investigation. It's reported everywhere. Stop denying reality.

[pdsimdars]

9. Not much of a scholar at that, eh? The typical course of an investigation is to go from the bottom

up. They have talked to the guy at the bottom, Pagliano. They went up the chain and have interviewed her inner circle and they plan to interview her in the next couple of weeks.
Don't just make stuff and think that's the way things really are. Learn something.