Hillary Clinton's Email Scandal: What Laws Were Broken?

Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server for official communications during her tenure as United States Secretary of State sparked controversy and led to an FBI investigation. While the FBI concluded that Clinton's server did not contain any emails marked as classified, federal agencies retroactively deemed 100 emails as confidential, with some even labelled as Secret or Top Secret. This raised questions about whether Clinton had violated federal laws pertaining to the handling of classified documents and State Department protocols. The FBI ultimately decided against filing charges, citing a lack of criminal intent, but the controversy resurfaced in the 2016 presidential election, where Clinton was a nominee.

Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server for official communications

Clinton's private email server was located in the basement of her home in Chappaqua, New York, from January 2009 until 2013. During this period, Clinton exclusively used her private email account for official State Department business, rather than using official State Department email accounts maintained on federal servers. This practice gave Clinton greater control over her message archives and allowed her to circumvent freedom of information laws.

While Clinton claimed that her use of a private email server complied with federal laws and State Department regulations, some experts and officials contended that it violated federal law, specifically 18 U.S. Code § 1924, regarding the unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or materials. They also argued that Clinton's actions violated State Department protocols, procedures, and regulations governing record-keeping.

A years-long FBI investigation into Clinton's use of a private email server concluded that her server did not contain any emails that were clearly marked classified. However, federal agencies retroactively determined that some of the emails contained information that should have been deemed classified at the time they were sent. The investigation found that Clinton had been extremely careless in her handling of sensitive information but recommended against prosecution, as there was no evidence of criminal intent.

The controversy surrounding Clinton's use of a private email server was a significant issue during the 2016 presidential election, in which Clinton was the Democratic nominee. The State Department's inspector general also released a report in May 2016, concluding that Clinton's use of a private email server violated department security guidelines and record-keeping practices. The report further stated that Clinton did not seek approval for her use of a private email server, and if she had, it would have been denied due to security risks.

The FBI's investigation into Clinton's emails

The FBI conducted a years-long investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server for official public communications during her tenure as United States Secretary of State. The investigation concluded that Clinton's server did not contain any emails that were clearly marked as classified. However, federal agencies determined retrospectively that 100 emails contained information that should have been deemed classified when they were sent, including 65 emails deemed "Secret" and 22 deemed "Top Secret".

The controversy surrounding Clinton's use of a private email server was a major point of discussion during the 2016 presidential election, in which Clinton was the Democratic nominee. FBI Director James Comey announced in July 2016 that the investigation had concluded that Clinton had been ''extremely careless'' but recommended against filing charges as there was no evidence of criminal intent.

However, eleven days before the election, Comey notified Congress that the FBI had started reviewing newly discovered emails. This announcement injected uncertainty into the presidential race and was criticised by Clinton and other observers as prejudicing the public against her. Ultimately, the FBI did not change its conclusion, and Clinton has attributed her loss in the election to Comey's announcements.

The Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General released a report in June 2018, finding no evidence of political bias in the FBI's handling of the investigation and supporting the decision not to prosecute Clinton.

Clinton's use of BlackBerry devices

Hillary Clinton's use of BlackBerry devices has been a point of contention, with some critics arguing that it posed a security risk and violated federal laws.

Prior to her appointment as Secretary of State in 2009, Clinton regularly used a BlackBerry phone to communicate with her circle of friends and colleagues. However, State Department security personnel warned that continuing this practice during her tenure could pose a security risk. Despite these concerns, Clinton opted to use her BlackBerry instead of transitioning to a secure desktop computer in her office as per State Department and government protocol.

Clinton's BlackBerry was hosted on a private server located in the basement of her home in Chappaqua, New York. This information was not disclosed to State Department security or senior personnel. The server was later moved to a data center in New Jersey before being handed over to Platte River Networks, a Denver-based information technology firm hired to manage Clinton's email system.

Clinton's use of a private email account on her BlackBerry for exchanging sensitive information raised concerns about security vulnerabilities and potential access by foreign intelligence agencies. While Clinton's office maintained that her BlackBerry was properly encrypted and secured, security experts warned that her arrangement could be vulnerable to hacking.

In 2009, Clinton requested a secure BlackBerry from the National Security Agency, but her request was denied due to security concerns and the lack of a user-friendly infrastructure at the State Department. Despite this, Clinton continued to use her BlackBerry, leading to warnings from State Department security personnel about the device's vulnerability to hacking.

The security and hacking of Clinton's email server

Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server for official communications during her tenure as United States Secretary of State drew controversy and sparked an FBI investigation. While the investigation determined that Clinton's server did not contain any clearly marked classified information, federal agencies retrospectively deemed 100 emails as classified.

Clinton's server was located in her home in Chappaqua, New York, from 2009 until 2013, when it was moved to a data center in New Jersey before being handed over to an IT firm. The server was configured to allow users to connect and control it remotely over the internet, which experts said made it vulnerable to hacking.

Clinton's server was indeed targeted by hackers, with scanning attempts originating from Serbia, Germany, China, and South Korea. Threat monitoring software blocked at least five such attempts in 2014. In 2013, a hacker named "Guccifer" accessed emails sent to Clinton by illegally accessing the email account of her associate, Sidney Blumenthal. In 2016, Romanian hacker Marcel Lehel Lazăr, also known as "Guccifer", claimed to have hacked Clinton's server, but officials found no evidence to support this claim.

Bryan Pagliano, the IT director who maintained Clinton's private email server, told the FBI that security logs showed no evidence of successful hacking. However, security experts believe that emails to and from Clinton may have been vulnerable to hacking and foreign surveillance.

The classification of information in Clinton's emails

During her time as the United States Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton was scrutinised for using a private email server for official public communications instead of using the official State Department email accounts.

After a years-long FBI investigation, it was determined that Clinton's server did not contain any information or emails that were clearly marked as classified. However, federal agencies did retrospectively determine that 100 emails contained information that should have been deemed classified at the time they were sent. These included 65 emails deemed "Secret" and 22 deemed "Top Secret". An additional 2,093 emails were retroactively designated as "Confidential" by the State Department.

Clinton's use of a private email system and server was deemed by some experts, officials, and members of Congress to be a violation of federal law, specifically 18 U.S. Code § 1924, which concerns the unauthorised removal and retention of classified documents or materials. However, Clinton claimed that her use of a private email system complied with federal laws and State Department regulations, and that former secretaries of state had also maintained personal email accounts.

Clinton's use of a private email server was a major point of discussion during the 2016 presidential election, in which she was the Democratic nominee. On July 5, 2016, FBI Director James Comey announced that the FBI had concluded its investigation and was referring the matter to the Justice Department, recommending that "no charges are appropriate in this case". Comey added that while there was "no reasonable prosecutor" who would bring such a case, there was evidence that Clinton and her team were "extremely careless" in their handling of sensitive, highly classified information.

On June 14, 2018, the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General released its report on the FBI's handling of Clinton's investigation, finding no evidence of political bias and supporting the decision to not prosecute Clinton. A three-year State Department investigation concluded in September 2019 that 38 individuals were "culpable" in 91 instances of sending classified information that reached Clinton's email account. However, the investigation found no persuasive evidence of systemic, deliberate mishandling of classified information.

Frequently asked questions