Hillary Clinton and the Email Controversy

Recent reports reveal that Hillary Clinton exclusively used a personal email account during her time as Secretary of State.

This means that she skipped a State Department email account and used a private email server registered to her and her husband, former President Bill Clinton home address.

What makes an email a State Department or private email? Is it the email server, the email account, the contents of the email, the source of the email, or the recipient of the email?

At the start of her tenure as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton was given the choice of using both a State Department and a private email account.  Having the two meant deciding before hand when to use the State Department account and when to use the private account. In short, the decision to segregate was still within her power except that the decision must be made prior to using her email account.

She decided to have only one email account but used it for both – State Department or official government business and private ones.  In this case, the decision to segregate was still hers except that it was done prior AND after the receiving, replying, or the sending of emails.

According to Hillary Clinton, having only one email account seemed to be more convenient and appropriate at the time.  There was no outright ban at the State Department on using personal email address to conduct official government business. Her critics still have to present evidence that she violated any law or State Department rule.

In fact, her predecessors Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice both had personal email accounts during their time as Secretaries of State. Powell also used personal email to communicate with his own State Department staff, foreign ministers and ambassadors.

Hillary Clinton had and continuous to have an email server that she shares with former President Bill Clinton at home. Such a server has experienced no security breaches since its installation. She is not banned from having a Gmail or Yahoo account using their respective servers.

Suppose she received an email from an ambassador or a foreign minister, will that make the email official?

Using a private email account, you send an email to a government official with  ”.gov” email account. Is that private or official? Suppose you receive an email from an ambassador, foreign minister or from an employee who has a “.gov” email account. Is that official or private?

The truth is, it is basically the contents of the email that determines whether it is official or private. And the decision to determine “either or” is within the power of the email account holder whether exercised prior to or after sending or receiving the emails.

Clinton handed over 55,000 emails stemming from her duties as Secretary of State. She asserts that no classified information was ever relayed through her emails. Neither was there any sensitive information found on those emails so far. In fact, she is encouraging the State Department to release them all for the public to discern.

Hillary Clinton, if she decides to run, will most likely be the Democratic presidential nominee and will most probably be the first woman President of the United States. I am not surprised that the Republicans are trying very hard to get her tarnished to prevent this probability from happening.

As my barber proudly proclaims, “I am Ready for Hillary”.