Clinton emails
Democrats ready to anoint Hillary Clinton as the party's presidential candidate in 2016 may try to dismiss it, but the revelation by The New York Times that Ms. Clinton exclusively used a personal email account during her tenure as secretary of state is no small matter.
Federal requirements are clear that electronic communications be retained as part of an agency's record. The obvious way to meet this requirement of the Federal Records Act is for public officials to use a government email account for their public business. Ms. Clinton has yet to offer any good explanation as to why she did not do so.
A public official might on occasion send or receive a communication using his or her private email that should be in the public domain. In an age of constant communication, with the erosion of barriers between public and private life, such intermingling can happen. When recognized, it can be rectified by moving such emails to the public record domain.
What is unusual, if not unprecedented, is Ms. Clinton's use of her private email for all her official State Department business. The practice invites suspicion. Ms. Clinton left the secretary's position in early 2013 after serving since the start of the Obama administration in 2009.
The Times reported that two months ago, in response to State Department efforts to make sure it was adhering to the federal record-keeping rules, Ms. Clinton's advisors agreed to review years of her personal emails to find those relevant to her work as secretary of state. About 55,000 pages of emails were given to the department. Who knows whether those advisors left some select emails out? The process appeared to be, "Trust us."
The use of private email also raises national security questions, because those communications would be more vulnerable to being tapped by other countries seeking insider information on U.S. diplomatic and security strategies.
Moving forward, it needs to be made clear to all top government officials - through congressional action if necessary - that this practice will not be allowed.
As for Ms. Clinton, only time will tell how politically damaging is this revelation. Democrats should be having second thoughts about putting all their eggs in the Clinton basket.
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