2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Emails Released Today Could Pose Serious Problems For Clinton Campaign, If Not For Clinton Herself [View all]grendelsd
(23 posts)A colleague of mine from the defense industry quipped, "Classified information is like kudzu: self propagating and indestructible."
Any information generated must be classified at the highest level possible until it is reclassified. I remember reams of paper that were notes we took that had no classified information in them, but were classified as a secures document in the room. The secret/top secret safes seemed to propagate into infinity.
Hence, "self propagating and indestructible".
Secretary Clinton does have a defense by saying that this was SOP at the time (Colin Powell had a private email server also). However, she is still vulnerable As has been said many times. If someone less connected had done what she did, they would be fired and/or (most likely) in jail.
If the Secretary came clean on why there was a separate server, perhaps it would lessen the blow. But understand that laws were most likely broken. ".. was not classified at the time" is not only a lame excuse but insulting to anyone who has ever held a clearance.
For the record, I think Secretary Clinton would be a fine president.
What she seems incapable of saying is the only reasonable defense, "Politician's have frequently used their own email servers for historic and/or political reasons. These emails are owned by the citizens of the US and therefore are their property. When elected, I will immediately issue an executive order that any and all government business will be conducted on auditable and enduring servers owned by the people of the United States."
... as unlikely as that may be