Political players react to finding that Clinton email server broke government rules

Record ID: 102078

  • Title: Political players react to finding that Clinton email server broke government rules
  • Date: 25th May 2016
  • Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT BUILDING
  • Embargoed: 9th June 2016 21:22
  • Keywords: Clinton emails server Inspector General report State Department
  • Location: BUENA PARK, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES/ WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES/ VALLETTA, MALTA/ UNITED NATIONS/ NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES/ TUNIS, TUNISIA/ VIENNA, AUSTRIA/ VARIOUS LOCATIONS/ ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
  • City: BUENA PARK, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES/ WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES/ VALLETTA, MALTA/ UNITED NATIONS/ NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES/ TUNIS, TUNISIA/ VIENNA, AUSTRIA/ VARIOUS LOCATIONS/ ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0054JB5WSN
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Political players in Washington and on the campaign trail reacted on Wednesday (May 25) to an internal government watchdog's finding that Democratic presidential candidate and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's email server broke rules.
    The long-awaited report by the State Department inspector general was the first official audit of the controversial arrangement to be made public. It was highly critical of Clinton's use of a server in her home, and contradicted Clinton's repeated assertion that her server was allowed and that no permission was needed.
    "Looking back, it would've been better if I'd simply used a second email account and carried a second phone, but at the time, this didn't seem like an issue," Clinton said, defending her use of the server in 2015.
    The report, which also found problems in department record-keeping practices before Clinton's tenure, undermined Clinton's earlier defenses of her emails, likely adding to Democratic anxieties about public perceptions of the candidate. A majority of voters say Clinton is dishonest, according to multiple polls.
    The report concluded that Clinton would not have been allowed to use the server in her home had she asked the department officials in charge of information security. The report said that staff who later raised concerns were told to keep quiet. Several suspected hacking attempts in 2011 were never reported to department information security officials, in breach of department rules, it said.
    "OIG found no evidence that the Secretary requested or obtained guidance or approval to conduct official business via a personal email account on her private server," the report said, using an abbreviation for the office of inspector general.
    The report said Clinton should have discussed the arrangement with the department's security and technology officials. Officials told investigators that they "did not - and would not - approve her exclusive reliance on a personal email account to conduct Department business." The reason, those officials said, is because it breached department rules and presented "security risks."
    The inspector general's report cited "longstanding, systemic weaknesses" with State Department records that predated Clinton's tenure, and found problems with the email record-keeping of some of her predecessors, particularly Powell, that failed to comply with the Federal Records Act.
    "We could have done a better job at preserving e-mails and records of secretaries of state and their senior staff going back frankly several administrations, so back to before Secretary Clinton. We recognize that," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said during a briefing.
    But the report singled out Clinton for her decision to use a private server in her home in Chappaqua, New York, for government business.
    The inspector general's office examined email record-keeping under five secretaries state, both Democratic and Republican. John Kerry, the current officeholder, and predecessors Madeline Albright, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice all agreed to speak to the inspector general's investigators. Clinton was the only one who declined to be interviewed, as did her aides.
    House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi compared Clinton's actions with those of past secretaries during a news briefing on Wednesday (May 25).
    "What Secretary Clinton did was consistent with other secretaries of state have done, including Colin Powell. The committee, the report itself references longstanding systemic weaknesses that go well beyond the tenure of any secretary of state," she said.
    The non-profit watchdog organization Project on Government Oversight said the report has exposed a double standard in government that those at the top are allowed to break the rules, while whistleblowers face retribution.
    "It's very clear that the highest levels of our, you know, our federal officials don't believe that these rules apply to them. I think they absolutely should.," said Liz Hempowicz, a Project on Government Oversight spokeswoman.
    Several other inquiries continue, including a U.S. Justice Department investigation into whether the arrangement broke laws.
    The report immediately fueled Republican attacks on Clinton, the Democratic front-runner in an already acrimonious presidential race.
    "She's as crooked as they come," Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, said of Clinton at a campaign rally in Anaheim, California, adding that the report's findings were "not good" for her. Clinton's campaign disagreed, saying the report rebutted Republican's criticism.
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