Hillary Clinton buried in emails
Former secretary of state caught in contention over breach of mail protocol
Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state and senator from New York, is in the news once again.
Trapped — Hillary Clinton stuck in email controversy. Google Images
During her time in President Barack Obama’s cabinet, Clinton used a personal Internet domain for her emails instead of using the “.gov” email address given to her. A House committee investigating the attack on the American Consulate in Benghazi originally uncovered this.
Clinton stated in a press conference last week that she used the personal email exclusively out of convenience, as she did not want to manage two separate emails. She went on to inform the reporters there that she deleted around 30,000 emails from that account.
The New York Times reported that as recently as two months ago, Clinton’s aides went through her personal email and chose which emails they wanted sent to the State Department to abide by federal record-keeping laws. This is in direct violation of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and former White House advisor on interpreting the FOIA Daniel Metcalfe stated that Clinton’s conduct was “laughable.”
“There is no doubt that the scheme she established was a blatant circumvent of the Freedom of Information Act, atop the Federal Records Act,” Metcalfe told the Canadian Press.
This revelation has major ramifications on the investigation of the Benghazi attacks Sept. 11, 2012. Congress has been investigating whether the true intentions of the attacks were covered up for political purposes, and this discovery could bring up more speculation as to the Obama administration’s handling of the situation.
“The need for a thorough accounting of the events of Sept. 11, 2012 is greater than ever,” Mark Hemingway wrote in the Weekly Standard. “We can, however, say for certain that Hillary Clinton has deliberately and brazenly erected roadblocks that have so far prevented us from learning the truth.”
A further result of this debacle is the potential openness of the Democratic presidential field in 2016.
Democrats have been relying heavily on Clinton as a candidate for president in the next election, and an alternative is nowhere to be seen. Yet, the Clinton campaign seems to be taking hit after hit it cannot withstand, and the former secretary looks every hour like less of a viable candidate.
“She seemed like a 20th-century figure in a 21st-century world,” Wall Street Journal editorialist Peggy Noonan said of Clinton’s press conference on the emails. “Her critics complain it’s the 1990s returning, but it isn’t. It’s only the dark side of the ’90s without the era’s peace and prosperity.”
This could be an opportunity for lesser-known liberals to take the spotlight, and the nomination, from the former first lady. Leaders such as Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo should see the issues with Clinton as an opportunity to do what Obama did in the 2008 primaries and take the party by storm.
Other, more famous Democrats like Vice President Joe Biden or even current State Secretary John Kerry might throw their hats into the ring, as Clinton seems to be reeling.
Overall, this could make for a much more interesting 2016 primary season on the Democratic side.
SUTHERLAND is an opinion writer.