Clinton Email Scandal: Lawbreaker Or Smear Campaign?

Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while serving as the United States Secretary of State sparked a major controversy and was a significant point of discussion during the 2016 presidential election, in which she was the Democratic nominee.

Clinton was criticised for using a private email server for official public communications instead of official State Department email accounts. After an FBI investigation, it was determined that Clinton's server did not contain any emails that were clearly marked as classified. However, federal agencies retrospectively found that 100 emails contained information that should have been deemed classified when they were sent.

While some experts, officials, and members of Congress argued that Clinton's actions violated federal law, the FBI recommended against filing charges as they found no evidence of criminal intent, and the case was closed without criminal charges.

Did Clinton violate federal law?

Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server for official public communications during her tenure as United States Secretary of State drew controversy and led to an FBI investigation. While Clinton claimed that her use complied with federal laws and State Department regulations, some experts, officials, and members of Congress contended that her actions violated federal law, specifically 18 U.S. Code § 1924, regarding the unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or materials.

The FBI investigation found that Clinton's server did not contain any emails that were clearly marked classified. However, federal agencies retrospectively determined that 100 emails contained information that should have been deemed classified at the time they were sent, and an additional 2,093 emails were retroactively designated as confidential. The investigation also discovered several thousand work-related emails that were not among the 30,000 that were returned by Clinton to the State Department in 2014.

While the FBI found no evidence that Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information, they concluded that there was evidence of extreme carelessness and potential violations of statutes regarding the handling of classified information. However, the FBI recommended against prosecution, stating that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case, as there was no evidence of criminal intent.

The State Department's inspector general report, released in May 2016, found that Clinton's email system violated government policy and that she did not receive permission to use it. The report concluded that such transgressions did not constitute criminal conduct but could result in administrative sanctions, such as a formal letter of reprimand or loss of security clearance.

While the controversy surrounding Clinton's emails raised questions about her judgment and compliance with federal laws and policies, the FBI's decision not to recommend criminal charges suggests that her actions, while careless, did not rise to the level of criminal violations of federal law.

Did Clinton violate State Department protocols and procedures?

Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server during her tenure as United States Secretary of State drew controversy and scrutiny over whether she had violated State Department protocols and procedures.

Clinton used a private email server for official public communications instead of official State Department email accounts on federal servers. This was a breach of the 1950 Federal Records Act, which requires officials using personal email accounts to ensure that official correspondence is turned over to the government. A regulation introduced ten months after Clinton took office further allowed the use of private emails only if federal records were "preserved in the appropriate agency record-keeping system".

Clinton's actions were also scrutinised by the State Department's Office of the Inspector General, which released a report in May 2016. The report found that Clinton had not sought approval from State Department staff for her use of a private email server, and that such approval would not have been granted due to "security risks". The report also stated that Clinton "did not comply with the Department's policies that were implemented in accordance with the Federal Records Act".

Clinton's use of a private email server was also a matter of national security. A report by the FBI in July 2016 found that Clinton's server did not contain any information or emails that were clearly marked classified. However, federal agencies retrospectively determined that 100 emails contained information that should have been deemed classified when they were sent. Clinton's server was also found to be vulnerable to hacking, with the FBI assessing that it was possible that hostile actors gained access to it.

Clinton's actions were deemed extremely careless by FBI Director James Comey, but he recommended that no charges be filed as Clinton did not act with criminal intent. The State Department resumed its investigation in July 2016 to determine whether Clinton or her aides violated government policy in their handling of classified information.

Did Clinton violate regulations governing recordkeeping?

Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server during her tenure as Secretary of State was a highly controversial issue. Some experts, officials, and members of Congress contended that Clinton's use of a private email system and a private server violated federal law, specifically 18 U.S. Code § 1924, regarding the unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or materials, as well as State Department protocols and procedures, and regulations governing recordkeeping.

Clinton claimed that her use complied with federal laws and State Department regulations, and that former secretaries of state had also maintained personal email accounts. However, Clinton was the only secretary of state to use a private server.

The State Department's Office of the Inspector General released a report in May 2016, which found that Clinton did not comply with the Department's policies that were implemented in accordance with the Federal Records Act. The report also stated that Clinton did not seek approval from the State Department staff for her use of a private email server, and that such approval would not have been granted due to security risks.

The FBI also investigated Clinton's use of a private email server and concluded that while there was "no clear evidence" that Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information, there was evidence that they were "extremely careless" in their handling of sensitive, highly classified information. The FBI recommended no charges against Clinton, as they found no evidence of criminal intent, which is the historical standard for pursuing prosecution.

The controversy surrounding Clinton's email server was a major point of discussion during the 2016 presidential election, in which Clinton was the Democratic nominee. Clinton herself has argued that the email controversy and the FBI investigation's handling of it contributed to her loss in the election.

Did Clinton's email system pose a security risk?

Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server during her tenure as Secretary of State was a highly controversial issue. While it was determined that her server did not contain any information or emails that were clearly marked as classified, federal agencies did retrospectively find that some of the emails contained information that should have been deemed classified at the time they were sent.

Clinton's email server was connected to the internet in ways that made it more vulnerable to hackers. It allowed users to connect openly over the internet to control it remotely, and it lacked the protection of the NSA. Clinton's system was also vulnerable to domain hijacking, as the domain was registered with a private domain registrar.

Clinton's server was configured to allow users to connect openly from the internet and control it remotely using Microsoft's Remote Desktop Services. It was also operating software necessary to publish websites, although it was not believed to have been used for this purpose. Traditional security practices dictate shutting off all unnecessary functions to prevent hackers from exploiting design flaws.

While there was no evidence of a successful hack, it is possible that hostile actors gained access. It is known that hackers were aware of Clinton's non-public email address as early as 2011, and Secretary Clinton and her staff were aware of hacking attempts in 2011. In 2012, a hacker in Serbia scanned Clinton's server at least twice, and during 2014, Clinton's server was the target of repeated intrusions originating in Germany, China, and South Korea.

Clinton's use of a private email server was deemed to have increased the risk of compromising State Department information. However, a three-year State Department investigation concluded in September 2019 that there was "no persuasive evidence of systemic, deliberate mishandling of classified information".

Did Clinton's aides destroy her devices?

During her tenure as United States Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton used a private email server for official public communications rather than using official State Department email accounts. This led to a years-long FBI investigation.

Clinton's tech support aide, Jason Cooper, destroyed two of Clinton's old phones with a hammer. This was done to ensure that data on the phones was rendered unrecoverable. However, there was no evidence that Cooper did this in response to a subpoena. Cooper stated that when he upgraded Clinton's phones to a newer model, he would first transfer and back up data from the old phone before destroying it.

Clinton's staffers told the FBI that they destroyed some of the replaced devices with a hammer, while they could not account for others.

Clinton's aides were also involved in the deletion of 31,830 older personal emails from the server. A Clinton chief of staff, Cheryl Mills, instructed Clinton's computer services provider, Platte River Networks (PRN), to change the server's retention period to 60 days, allowing 31,830 older personal emails to be automatically deleted from the server. However, the PRN technician assigned to carry out this task failed to do so at that time. After the existence of the server became publicly known, the Select Committee on Benghazi issued a subpoena for Benghazi-related emails. Mills sent an email to PRN mentioning the committee's retention request. The PRN technician then realised he had not set the personal emails to be deleted as instructed months earlier, and subsequently carried out the deletion using a free utility, BleachBit, sometime between March 25 and 31.

Frequently asked questions