Clinton's Legal Troubles: Charges And Allegations

Hillary Clinton has never been charged with breaking the law, but she has been at the centre of several controversies, including the use of a private email server for official communications while Secretary of State, which was the subject of an FBI investigation. The investigation concluded that Clinton's server did not contain any information or emails that were clearly marked as classified, but federal agencies did retrospectively determine that 100 emails contained information that should have been deemed classified.

Clinton was also involved in a campaign finance scandal, where her 2016 campaign committee and the Democratic National Committee were fined for failing to properly disclose the money they spent on opposition research that led to the infamous Trump-Russia dossier.

The use of a private email server

Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server during her tenure as Secretary of State sparked controversy and led to an FBI investigation. While no charges were filed, the investigation revealed concerns about the security and appropriateness of her email practices. Here is a detailed overview of the situation:

The Private Email Server Setup

During her time as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton used a private email server for both official public communications and personal correspondence. This server was located in her home in Chappaqua, New York, from 2009 to 2013 and was then moved to a data center in New Jersey before being handed over to an IT firm. The server was set up initially for former President Bill Clinton, but Hillary Clinton also used it and had email addresses on the server for herself, her long-time aide Huma Abedin, and State Department Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills.

Reasons for Using Private Server

Clinton cited "convenience" as the primary reason for using a private email server, preferring to carry only one smartphone with one email address. At the time, government-issued Blackberry phones couldn't access multiple email accounts, so she opted for the convenience of her Blackberry instead of following State Department protocol of using a secured desktop computer. However, critics argued that the real reason for the private server was to give Clinton more control over her correspondence and avoid freedom of information requests.

Security Concerns and Classified Information

The controversy intensified when it was discovered that some of Clinton's emails contained classified information. A 2016 FBI investigation concluded that Clinton and her aides were '"extremely careless" in their handling of classified information, but no charges were filed as it was determined that they did not act with criminal intent. The FBI found no direct evidence of unauthorised access to her email servers, but the lack of robust security meant that "it is possible that hostile actors gained access".

Political Fallout

The private email server controversy significantly impacted the 2016 presidential election, in which Clinton was the Democratic nominee. Her opponent, Republican Donald Trump, suggested that Clinton was "hiding something" by using a private network. The FBI's handling of the investigation also came under scrutiny, particularly when the probe was reopened just days before the election after some of Clinton's emails were found on a laptop belonging to the husband of a close aide. Many, including Clinton herself, believe that this decision damaged her campaign.

The handling of classified information

Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server for official communications while serving as Secretary of State sparked a controversy and led to an FBI investigation into her handling of classified information. The investigation focused on whether Clinton's actions violated laws pertaining to the handling and storage of classified government information.

The FBI discovered that Clinton had sent and received thousands of emails containing classified information via her private, non-governmental server. This included information deemed "Secret" and "Top Secret". While Clinton asserted that she was unaware of the classification of the emails at the time, experts and officials contended that her actions violated federal laws and State Department protocols.

The investigation concluded that Clinton and her aides had been extremely careless in their handling of sensitive, classified information. However, the FBI decided not to recommend criminal charges, citing a lack of criminal intent and the absence of clear criminal intent in similar past cases. This decision sparked criticism from both Republican and Democratic sides.

The funding of the Steele dossier

The Steele dossier, also known as the Trump–Russia dossier, is a controversial political opposition research report on the 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump. It was compiled by counterintelligence specialist Christopher Steele and published without permission in 2017 as an unfinished 35-page compilation of "unverified, and potentially unverifiable" memos. The dossier was written from June to December 2016 and contains allegations of misconduct, conspiracy, and cooperation between Trump's presidential campaign and the government of Russia prior to and during the 2016 election campaign.

In March 2022, the FEC dismissed most of the charges (including all alleged violations of 52 U.S. Code § 30121) but found "probable cause to believe" that the DNC and the Clinton campaign (and their treasurers) had " [misreported] the purpose of certain disbursements". The FEC fined the DNC $105,000 and the Clinton campaign $8,000 for misreporting those fees and expenses as "legal services" and "legal and compliance consulting" rather than "opposition research".

The Clinton email investigation

The investigation looked into whether there was evidence that classified information was improperly stored or transmitted on Clinton's personal system, in violation of federal statutes. It also investigated whether there was evidence of computer intrusion by foreign powers or other hostile actors.

The FBI found that Clinton had used several different servers and administrators during her four years as Secretary of State and that she had used numerous mobile devices to view and send emails on her personal domain. The FBI also reviewed approximately 30,000 emails provided by Clinton to the State Department in 2014.

The investigation concluded that Clinton's server did not contain any information or emails that were clearly marked as classified. However, federal agencies retrospectively determined that 100 emails contained information that should have been deemed classified at the time they were sent, including 65 deemed "Secret" and 22 deemed "Top Secret".

The FBI also discovered several thousand work-related emails that were not among the 30,000 that Clinton had returned to the State Department. These additional emails were found on various devices that supported or were connected to Clinton's private email domain, as well as in the mailboxes of other government officials.

While the FBI found no evidence that Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information, they did find evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of sensitive, highly classified information. The FBI determined that Clinton's use of a private email server increased the risk of hacking and that it was possible that hostile actors gained access to her personal email account.

Ultimately, the FBI recommended that no charges be filed against Clinton, as they did not find evidence of criminal intent, which is the historical standard for pursuing prosecution. However, the investigation sparked intense public debate and had a significant impact on the 2016 presidential election, in which Clinton was the Democratic nominee.

The Benghazi scandal

The US House Select Committee empaneled to investigate the matter, and Clinton also faced an active investigation by the FBI's Counterintelligence Division into her allegedly unlawful use of a private server. The FBI investigation focused on whether Clinton had mishandled classified information, as she had sent and received classified information via email on a private, non-governmental server while Secretary of State. Strict laws govern the accessing and storage of such information.

Clinton's primary defence has been that she was unaware of the classification of the emails at the time they were sent or received. However, a review of 30,000 Clinton emails by the State Department indicated that at least 671 emails contained classified information. This contradicts Clinton's statement to reporters, in which she claimed never to have sent or received any information that was classified at the time.

The FBI also investigated whether Clinton had committed 'gross negligence' under the Espionage Act by failing to keep national defence information safe. According to an intelligence community source, the subsection of the Espionage Act in question requires the 'lawful possession' of national defence information and that a security clearance holder, through 'gross negligence', permits the material to be removed or abstracted from its secure location.

Clinton has maintained that the use of a private server was permitted by State Department IT procedures at the time and that the information in question was not classified until after the fact. However, defence attorney Edward MacMahon Jr. has disputed this defence, stating that the lack of classification markings or knowledge of classification would not be relevant in a prosecution under the Espionage Act.

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