HRC Used Personal Email as Secretary of State

[MrsAxilla]

Ruh-roh.   :?

Hillary Clinton Used Personal Email at State Dept., Possibly Breaking Rules

Photo

Hillary Rodham Clinton had no government email address. Credit Liam Richards/The Canadian Press, via Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Hillary Rodham Clinton exclusively used a personal email account to conduct government business as secretary of state, State Department officials said, and may have violated federal requirements that officials’ correspondence be retained as part of the agency’s record.

Mrs. Clinton did not have a government email address during her four-year tenure at the State Department. Her aides took no actions to have her personal emails preserved on department servers at the time, as required by the Federal Records Act.

It was only two months ago, in response to a new State Department effort to comply with federal record-keeping practices, that Mrs. Clinton’s advisers reviewed tens of thousands of pages of her personal emails and decided which ones to turn over to the State Department. All told, 55,000 pages of emails were given to the department. Mrs. Clinton stepped down from the secretary’s post in early 2013.

Her expansive use of the private account was alarming to current and former National Archives and Records Administration officials and government watchdogs, who called it a serious breach.

“It is very difficult to conceive of a scenario — short of nuclear winter — where an agency would be justified in allowing its cabinet-level head officer to solely use a private email communications channel for the conduct of government business,” said Jason R. Baron, a lawyer at Drinker Biddle & Reath who is a former director of litigation at the National Archives and Records Administration.

A spokesman for Mrs. Clinton, Nick Merrill, defended her use of the personal email account and said she has been complying with the “letter and spirit of the rules.”

Under federal law, however, letters and emails written and received by federal officials, such as the secretary of state, are considered government records and are supposed to be retained so that congressional committees, historians and members of the news media can find them. There are exceptions to the law for certain classified and sensitive materials.

Mrs. Clinton is not the first government official — or first secretary of state — to use a personal email account on which to conduct official business. But her exclusive use of her private email, for all of her work, appears unusual, Mr. Baron said. The use of private email accounts is supposed to be limited to emergencies, experts said, such as when an agency’s computer server is not working.

“I can recall no instance in my time at the National Archives when a high-ranking official at an executive branch agency solely used a personal email account for the transaction of government business,” said Mr. Baron, who worked at the agency from 2000 to 2013.

Regulations from the National Archives and Records Administration at the time required that any emails sent or received from personal accounts be preserved as part of the agency’s records.

But Mrs. Clinton and her aides failed to do so.

How many emails were in Mrs. Clinton’s account is not clear, and neither is the process her advisers used to determine which ones related to her work at the State Department before turning them over.

“It’s a shame it didn’t take place automatically when she was secretary of state as it should have,” said Thomas S. Blanton, the director of the National Security Archive, a group based at George Washington University that advocates government transparency. “Someone in the State Department deserves credit for taking the initiative to ask for the records back. Most of the time it takes the threat of litigation and embarrassment.”

Mr. Blanton said high-level officials should operate as President Obama does, emailing from a secure government account, with every record preserved for historical purposes.

“Personal emails are not secure,” he said. “Senior officials should not be using them.”

Penalties for not complying with federal record-keeping requirements are rare, because the National Archives has few enforcement abilities.

Mr. Merrill, the spokesman for Mrs. Clinton, declined to detail why she had chosen to conduct State Department business from her personal account. He said that because Mrs. Clinton had been sending emails to other State Department officials at their government accounts, she had “every expectation they would be retained.” He did not address emails that Mrs. Clinton may have sent to foreign leaders, people in the private sector or government officials outside the State Department.

The revelation about the private email account echoes longstanding criticisms directed at both the former secretary and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, for a lack of transparency and inclination toward secrecy.

And others who, like Mrs. Clinton, are eyeing a candidacy for the White House are stressing a very different approach. Jeb Bush, who is seeking the Republican nomination for president, released a trove of emails in December from his eight years as governor of Florida.

It is not clear whether Mrs. Clinton’s private email account included encryption or other security measures, given the sensitivity of her diplomatic activity.

Mrs. Clinton’s successor, Secretary of State John Kerry, has used a government email account since taking over the role, and his correspondence is being preserved contemporaneously as part of State Department records, according to his aides.

Before the current regulations went into effect, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, who served from 2001 to 2005, used personal email to communicate with American officials and ambassadors and foreign leaders.

Last October, the State Department, as part of the effort to improve its record keeping, asked all previous secretaries of state dating back to Madeleine K. Albright to provide it with any records, like emails, from their time in office for preservation.

“These steps include regularly archiving all of Secretary Kerry’s emails to ensure that we are capturing all federal records,” said a department spokeswoman, Jen Psaki.

The existence of Mrs. Clinton’s personal email account was discovered by a House committee investigating the attack on the American Consulate in Benghazi as it sought correspondence between Mrs. Clinton and her aides about the attack.

Two weeks ago, the State Department, after reviewing Mrs. Clinton’s emails, provided the committee with about 300 emails — amounting to roughly 900 pages — about the Benghazi attacks.

Mrs. Clinton and the committee declined to comment on the contents of the emails or whether they will be made public.

The State Department, Ms. Psaki said, “has been proactively and consistently engaged in responding to the committee’s many requests in a timely manner, providing more than 40,000 pages of documents, scheduling more than 20 transcribed interviews and participating in several briefings and each of the committee’s hearings.”

www.nytimes.com/2015/03/03/us/politics/hillary-clintons-use-of-private-email-at-state-department-raises-flags.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

[gpw]

WHY DO YOU HATE WOMEN, MrsA?!

[Deleted]

Oh now that's bad.

[ttt]

This is...not good.

I can't understand the logic here. But I can't understand why anyone would want to use personal email for work in the first place, let alone when you have a position like that.

[gpw]

Mar 3, 2015 0:07:39 GMT -5 ttt said:

This is...not good.

I can't understand the logic here. But I can't understand why anyone would want to use personal email for work in the first place, let alone when you have a position like that.

This was my first thought.   That's just....odd.  

[MrsAxilla]

It sounds like this is a recent, minor little regulation....but the Rs will have a field day. And the fact that this was discovered during Benghazi investigations.....ugh. I kinda feel sick.

[ESF]

The fuck?

I don't understand. This is such a no brainer. I guess maybe I could understand how it started, in that she probably had relationships with people before she got into this position. But I can't even wrap my brain around how it went on for years? Nobody noticed?

[LoveTrains]

This seems like a serious issue and problem.

[Deleted]

Mar 3, 2015 0:18:03 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

It sounds like this is a recent, minor little regulation....but the Rs will have a field day. And the fact that this was discovered during Benghazi investigations.....ugh. I kinda feel sick.

Why do you think that?

Because that's the opposite of the conclusion I came to while reading this article. 

[origami]

Well there's no way no one noticed this. I don't know what the reason was, but I'm sure there was one. Unfortunately for HRC, the first reason that springs to one's mind is avoiding the record keeping.

[sunny]

silly question. why wouldn't Obama, as president, say hey HRC use the state.gov email address. or do you think she did that thing where it's automatically forwarded to her personal account so people could send to the official address but she always replied from her personal address. I don't see how they would allow forwarding of such an email address to a non-secure account however. I mean just the security alone, not to mention the appearance of lack of transparency. I can't believe that anyone let this happen. there's no good reason.

[Deleted]

Mar 3, 2015 1:03:04 GMT -5 sunny said:

silly question. why wouldn't Obama, as president, say hey HRC use the state.gov email address. or do you think she did that thing where it's automatically forwarded to her personal account so people could send to the official address but she always replied from her personal address. I don't see how they would allow forwarding of such an email address to a non-secure account however. I mean just the security alone, not to mention the appearance of lack of transparency. I can't believe that anyone let this happen. there's no good reason.

It says she didn't have a government email address at all.

[MrsAxilla]

Mar 3, 2015 0:28:48 GMT -5 @helenabonhamcarter said:

Mar 3, 2015 0:18:03 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

It sounds like this is a recent, minor little regulation....but the Rs will have a field day. And the fact that this was discovered during Benghazi investigations.....ugh. I kinda feel sick.

Why do you think that?

Because that's the opposite of the conclusion I came to while reading this article. 

The article says "Penalties for not complying with federal record-keeping requirements are rare, because the National Archives has few enforcement abilities."  It also says a few paragraphs later that before the current regs went into effect, Powell used personal email.  I gathered they were put into place between 2005 when he left and 2009 when she became SoS.  So they were new to her.  Honestly, it doesn't sound like a big deal from a legal standpoint.  But the legalities are irrelevant given all the political fuel this provides.  

[Deleted]

Mar 3, 2015 1:17:58 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

Mar 3, 2015 0:28:48 GMT -5 @helenabonhamcarter said:

Why do you think that?

Because that's the opposite of the conclusion I came to while reading this article. 

The article says "Penalties for not complying with federal record-keeping requirements are rare, because the National Archives has few enforcement abilities."  It also says a few paragraphs later that before the current regs went into effect, Powell used personal email.  I gathered they were put into place between 2005 when he left and 2009 when she became SoS.  So they were new to her.  Honestly, it doesn't sound like a big deal from a legal standpoint.  But the legalities are irrelevant given all the political fuel this provides.  

From my understanding of the article, it's not that she used personal email but that she used it exclusively and didn't make efforts to keep all of the correspondence.

“I can recall no instance in my time at the National Archives when a high-ranking official at an executive branch agency solely used a personal email account for the transaction of government business,” said Mr. Baron, who worked at the agency from 2000 to 2013.

So yeah, I'm not buying that the idea of either government email nor adequate record keeping were foreign concepts to her. This is a problem for more than just Republican bickering fodder.

[rupertpenny]

As an archivist, I think this is horrible. I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt a little bit though because even though she has obviously worked in government before this might have been her first position where records created in her office were actually goverment property. Senators own the records created in their personal offices and can legally use them to light a bonfire on the Mall if they so choose (committee records are a different story however). Records of the office of the POTUS are owned by the federal government, but as First Lady I don't think she was actually obligated to preserve anything (I'd be surprised if nothing from her office made it to the Clinton Library though). So while the fact that all of her records are not owned by her might have been new to her, she is an intelligent person and anyone with basic common sense should have been able to figure this out.

[Deleted]

Mar 3, 2015 1:50:56 GMT -5 rupertpenny said:

As an archivist, I think this is horrible. I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt a little bit though because even though she has obviously worked in government before this might have been her first position where records created in her office were actually goverment property. Senators own the records created in their personal offices and can legally use them to light a bonfire on the Mall if they so choose (committee records are a different story however). Records of the office of the POTUS are owned by the federal government, but as First Lady I don't think she was actually obligated to preserve anything (I'd be surprised if nothing from her office made it to the Clinton Library though). So while the fact that all of her records are not owned by her might have been new to her, she is an intelligent person and anyone with basic common sense should have been able to figure this out.

I just find it really hard to believe that NO ONE in HRC's office either knew she needed to keep those records/use the government email or told her she was supposed to.

I mean really, I think the only option here is that someone eventually told her, maybe not right away but rather soon after taking office and she was just like welp, whatever, and continued jamming out to Bey or something.

[MrsAxilla]

Mar 3, 2015 1:56:48 GMT -5 @helenabonhamcarter said:

Mar 3, 2015 1:50:56 GMT -5 rupertpenny said:

As an archivist, I think this is horrible. I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt a little bit though because even though she has obviously worked in government before this might have been her first position where records created in her office were actually goverment property. Senators own the records created in their personal offices and can legally use them to light a bonfire on the Mall if they so choose (committee records are a different story however). Records of the office of the POTUS are owned by the federal government, but as First Lady I don't think she was actually obligated to preserve anything (I'd be surprised if nothing from her office made it to the Clinton Library though). So while the fact that all of her records are not owned by her might have been new to her, she is an intelligent person and anyone with basic common sense should have been able to figure this out.

I just find it really hard to believe that NO ONE in HRC's office either knew she needed to keep those records/use the government email or told her she was supposed to.

I mean really, I think the only option here is that someone eventually told her, maybe not right away but rather soon after taking office and she was just like welp, whatever, and continued jamming out to Bey or something.

Plausible deniability. A slap on the wrist if she's caught.  But....why?  It definitely looks sketchy from where we sit, in light of all that's happened, but I wonder what the rationale was five years ago.

[sunny]

Her domain was....clintonemail.com. registered the day of her senate hearings. www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/03/02/hacked-emails-indicate-that-hillary-clinton-used-a-domain-registered-the-day-of-her-senate-hearings/

[rupertpenny]

Mar 3, 2015 1:56:48 GMT -5 @helenabonhamcarter said:

Mar 3, 2015 1:50:56 GMT -5 rupertpenny said:

As an archivist, I think this is horrible. I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt a little bit though because even though she has obviously worked in government before this might have been her first position where records created in her office were actually goverment property. Senators own the records created in their personal offices and can legally use them to light a bonfire on the Mall if they so choose (committee records are a different story however). Records of the office of the POTUS are owned by the federal government, but as First Lady I don't think she was actually obligated to preserve anything (I'd be surprised if nothing from her office made it to the Clinton Library though). So while the fact that all of her records are not owned by her might have been new to her, she is an intelligent person and anyone with basic common sense should have been able to figure this out.

I just find it really hard to believe that NO ONE in HRC's office either knew she needed to keep those records/use the government email or told her she was supposed to.

I mean really, I think the only option here is that someone eventually told her, maybe not right away but rather soon after taking office and she was just like welp, whatever, and continued jamming out to Bey or something.

I wish I were surprised, but I'm not really. People do not understand archives or the value of archiving. Getting people to donate or transfer their very important records is like pulling teeth. They either think that nothing is important, or they are paranoid that people only want to save it because they are out to get them. The only people who want to willing part with their papers usually have nothing of much value in the first place haha. Also, almost no one thinks about this until they decide to retire and/or exit politics entirely. It is almost viewed as a sign of weakness in DC to be seen doing anything to preserve your records. I used to work as an archivist in the Senate and it was beyond frustrating. I wouldn't be surprised if HRC had picked up some of this attitude during her time there.

And I'm sure that there are legal advisors and/or records managers in the State Department that are aware of these issues, but being aware is different than actually going to the Secretary and telling them they are doing it wrong. If they even got that far getting the Secretary to actually listen to them and fix the problem is another thing entirely.

[cookiemdough]

Honestly my first thought was that it was a technology issue. If she wanted to use more updated equipment for work she may not have been able to use a government email address on a device that is not supported by that department.
::eyes crappy blackberry::

But I agree the optics are not good. I am curious what precautions they took to secure and encrypt mail.

[josieposy]

I think the regs they are referring to were put into place after she resigned.

At any rate, why is this a big deal now and not several years ago when the Benghazi thing first started?

I'm not saying that this is no big deal, but I do question the timing of this.

[ChillyMcFreeze]

Nobody reads the employee handbook.

[heyjude]

Mar 3, 2015 8:26:44 GMT -5 nursecramer said:

HRC's inbox:

FREE business cards!!!
RE: RE: RE: Re: RE: Re: Benghazi
Alert: Chelsea has uploaded a new album to Shutterfly
Prescription drugs for less!!!
Improve your LOVE LIFE!!!
Meeting reminder: Barack @ 2:30pm
Great RATES on INSURANCE!!!!
Federal Employee Email Usage Regulations
***Overdue notice: Items overdue at Library of Congress***
Low Monthly Payments in Washington DC
 

DNCHQ: Hillary we will fly you and a friend to Chicago to meet Obama.

OFA: Hillary, we need to talk.

Action needed: Do you want a free car magnet?

Hillary have you added your name to the "I love Obamacare" list?

Michelle Obama: Hillary, I know we can do this together.

Barack Obama: Last night was amazing.

[Deleted]

This is just so...bizarre. I just can't imagine working at that level, and it not being basic common sense to use a separate email. Even if we give her a pass about it being her first official role, it brings in a huge question about ability to use good judgement for really basic concepts in today's working world; let alone matters of international security. And I love HRC WHY?!?!?

[heyjude]

Mar 3, 2015 8:38:02 GMT -5 @historychick79 said:

This is just so...bizarre. I just can't imagine working at that level, and it not being basic common sense to use a separate email. Even if we give her a pass about it being her first official role, it brings in a huge question about ability to use good judgement for really basic concepts in today's working world; let alone matters of international security. And I love HRC WHY?!?!?

It's not her first.....

For one. She was a Senator....

[Deleted]

Mar 3, 2015 8:41:18 GMT -5 heyjude said:

Mar 3, 2015 8:38:02 GMT -5 @historychick79 said:

This is just so...bizarre. I just can't imagine working at that level, and it not being basic common sense to use a separate email. Even if we give her a pass about it being her first official role, it brings in a huge question about ability to use good judgement for really basic concepts in today's working world; let alone matters of international security. And I love HRC WHY?!?!?

It's not her first.....

For one. She was a Senator....

Sorry it's early. But would Senator emails be considered the same priority and Federal government property? And then the question is what email did she use as Senator; and does that matter as much? 

[iammalcolmx]

Why didn't she have a Government email address? This is a mess.

[simpsongal]

Not speaking to specific people, but it's not uncommon for this to happen in the federal government - especially with higher ups who frequently move from job to job. Of course we discourage it, but employees (again, particularly high level ones) are frequently on the clock at all hours and cross the line between using official and private resources.

Personally, it took me like 5+ years to stop using my .edu email address b/c I was so attached to it.

I guess the real cluster is separating her official emails from personal ones.

[heyjude]

Mar 3, 2015 8:45:02 GMT -5 @historychick79 said:

Mar 3, 2015 8:41:18 GMT -5 heyjude said:

It's not her first.....

For one. She was a Senator....

Sorry it's early. But would Senator emails be considered the same priority and Federal government property? And then the question is what email did she use as Senator; and does that matter as much? 

I'm sure it was just as important in the Senate. But @ruppertpenny would know more.

[rupertpenny]

I'm not surprised she didn't have an email address either. My former boss, a senator, didn't use a computer. He's only a few years older than HRC. It just isn't a given that people in that age range use email, especially if they you have been in high ranking positions long enough that they've had other people doing their admin stuff for decades. Obviously she does know how to use email, but I doubt anyone was hounding her to set one up like any other new hire.