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Finally... => General Discussion => Topic started by: mainiac on July 08, 2016, 07:54:12 am

Title: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: mainiac on July 08, 2016, 07:54:12 am
It's a uh... interesting read.  AFAIK all but a coupe of them have been completely declassified and they are relentlessly documented so we know exactly what happened when and where.

The most interesting seem to be "a few" which contained information that was "marked classified".  There were two such and they have been declassified.

On August 2, 2012, she replied to an email containing this from her aide.  This reply included the text of the previous email, typed by Monica Hanley.
Quote from: https://wikileaks.org/clinton-emails/emailid/19949
(C) Purpose of Call: Joint Special Envoy (JSE) Kofi Annan has requested to speak with you. On August 2, UN Secretary- General Ban announced that Annan has decided not to renew his mandate after it expires August 31.


On Aplril 8, 2012, she replied to an email containing this from her aide.  This reply included the text of the previous email typed by Monica Hanley as well.
Quote from: https://wikileaks.org/clinton-emails/emailid/11604
(C) Purpose of Call: To offer condolences on the passing of President Mutharika and congratulate President Banda on her recent swearing in.

I put "scare quotes" around "marked classified" because marked classified has an exact legal definition which you are free to see here: http://www.archives.gov/isoo/training/marking-booklet.pdf
I quoted the part with the "(C)" however marking something classified also means putting a header at the start of the document saying classified and putting a footer that says the declassification date.

So that's two.  That leaves about 105 less interesting emails plus the two or three that haven't been declassified yet.  Anyone got the skinny on any other juicy bits as good as this?  I hope they're all this good!
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: MarcAFK on July 08, 2016, 07:56:59 am
What's the deal with the one that was so classified that the agency couldn't even be named?
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: mainiac on July 08, 2016, 08:01:54 am
I am unable to determine based on the text of your post if your intent was humorous or not.
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: Sheb on July 08, 2016, 08:06:46 am
He's referring something Morrigi said on the Ameripol thread linking to a video of Republicans saying something about the handful of classified emails containing Top Secret - Special Acces Program stuff. I didn't watch the vid, but I guess the GOPcritter in it say those are so classified we can't know who created the info or something.
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: MarcAFK on July 08, 2016, 08:08:16 am
Thx Sheb I lost track of where I read that, sounds like somebody was misinterpreting the data, maybe by as much as I did.
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: mainiac on July 08, 2016, 08:36:28 am
No, nobody could have been misinterpreting things.  If that happened there would be a congressional committee and they would be lambasted on the news for years.
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: anzki4 on July 08, 2016, 08:44:58 am
Here's the quote from Morrigi containing a link to the video in question:
On another note, wtf is this shit? http://www.c-span.org/video/?c4609395/special-access-programs-involved

The Clinton e-mail scandal included information so classified that the government organization responsible for the information cannot even be named.
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: mainiac on July 08, 2016, 08:50:28 am
What is that even.
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: NullForceOmega on July 08, 2016, 09:48:00 am
That is an absolutely textbook standard 'right hand doesn't know what the left is doing'.  And typifies our system of plausible deniability.  For someone so well versed in U.S. politics I'm surprised you didn't already know that.
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: mainiac on July 08, 2016, 09:50:56 am
That is an absolutely textbook standard 'right hand doesn't know what the left is doing'.  And typifies our system of plausible deniability.  For someone so well versed in U.S. politics I'm surprised you didn't already know that.

This is not remotely right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing.  This is congressperson asks for information they damn well know they wont get because it's not publicly disclosed.  The indication of that is that he said so.  Multiple times.

The glass houses...
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: NullForceOmega on July 08, 2016, 09:56:10 am
Nice try.

The right hand (congress) doesn't know what the left hand (agency/ies in question) is doing.

Sounds correct to me.

Or to be more blunt, the Intelligence Community Inspector General didn't have adequate clearance to know about this information, again right hand knows not.
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: mainiac on July 08, 2016, 10:02:19 am
Nice try.

The right hand (congress) doesn't know what the left hand (agency/ies in question) is doing.

Sounds correct to me.

Or to be more blunt, the Intelligence Community Inspector General didn't have adequate clearance to know about this information, again right hand knows not.

the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing
phrase of hand
1. used to convey that there is a state of confusion within a group or organization.
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: NullForceOmega on July 08, 2016, 10:06:47 am
Yes, I believe that would be accurate here, don't you?  There certainly appears to be a large degree of confusion amongst the various agencies involved does there not?  Your attempts at pedantry are boring.
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: mainiac on July 08, 2016, 10:09:10 am
Yes, I believe that would be accurate here, don't you?

"Nice try"

There is zero confusion here.  Nobody is confused about a thing here.  Some information isn't disclosed.  It's said that it wont be disclosed.  The right hand knows exactly what the left hand is doing.

Some members of the public seem to be intentionally making themselves confused but it's very straightforward.
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: RedKing on July 08, 2016, 11:26:06 am
If you're suggesting that Republicans in Congress asked for these emails, knowing that they would be denied because of the classification level (and I'm asking, because I know you hate people[i.e. me] trying to suss out the intended implications of your statements), and that thus the whole thing was a bit of politicial theater, I'm inclined to agree with you.

And I think it was a pretty shrewd piece of theater. Then can then turn to the public (or at least their base) and say, "Not only were there were classified emails on that server, they were so classified they can't even tell *us* about them." That flies rather directly in the face of Clinton's earlier assertions that no classified material was on her private server.

Quote
Clinton, March 10, 2015: I did not email any classified material to anyone on my email. There is no classified material. So I’m certainly well-aware of the classification requirements and did not send classified material.

So either she lied about the lack of classified material, or she lied about being well aware of the classification requirements. You can make a (flimsy, IMHO) argument that the low-level classified stuff was easy to assume it wasn't classified. Stuff that's TS/SCA is usually unmistakable in its sensitivity.
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: mainiac on July 08, 2016, 11:45:32 am
Stuff that's TS/SCA is usually unmistakable in its sensitivity.

Dude, you dont need to be vague.  We have the emails.  Show me the examples of what is unmistakable.  Quote me something.

So either she lied about the lack of classified material, or she lied about being well aware of the classification requirements. You can make a (flimsy, IMHO) argument that the low-level classified stuff was easy to assume it wasn't classified. Stuff that's TS/SCA is usually unmistakable in its sensitivity.

She did not knowingly transmit any classified information.  The closest anything came to being marked classified is the two emails in the OP.  And that wasn't something she originated, that was just something in a quote pyramid that she sent.

This isn't "she gave the Reich blueprints to our 75mm cannon!  Send her to rot!"  This is "she mentioned a plan to make a phone call which wasn't yet public knowledge."

I'm not exactly shitting myself with fear that the Chinese had access to this information a few hours before it was included in the press release.  We aren't talking about a FOMC statement.
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: sluissa on July 08, 2016, 01:17:52 pm
A: Why did this escape the ameripol thread?

B: What about the other hundred or so "classified" emails that were mentioned by several sources including the FBI?

C: Is this irony? https://wikileaks.org/clinton-emails/emailid/29265 (https://wikileaks.org/clinton-emails/emailid/29265)
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: mainiac on July 08, 2016, 01:28:47 pm
A: Why did this escape the ameripol thread?

Because that's politics while this is a conspiracy theory thread.  Also, they asked me not to post there.


B: What about the other hundred or so "classified" emails that were mentioned by several sources including the FBI?

"the FBI" in this case meaning "anonymous sources" claiming to have intimate knowledge?  Well gee

Quote
C: Is this irony? https://wikileaks.org/clinton-emails/emailid/29265 (https://wikileaks.org/clinton-emails/emailid/29265)

It's a little bit ironic but you will see that even that email talks about the need to protect diplomatic cables, not lunch plans.
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: Flying Dice on July 08, 2016, 01:32:24 pm
Quote
And if this is wikileaks can get, what can the Chinese or other able to secure?

Bravo, Mark.
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: mainiac on July 08, 2016, 01:40:51 pm
Your meaning being...?  Is it that they could get these emails?  Yeah the Chinese can probably get emails that have been publicly declassified and published by the government.
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: RedKing on July 08, 2016, 01:48:59 pm
Stuff that's TS/SCA is usually unmistakable in its sensitivity.

Dude, you dont need to be vague.  We have the emails.  Show me the examples of what is unmistakable.  Quote me something.
I'm referring to the emails which couldn't be released to Congress due to their classification level, not the wikileaks dump.


Quote
So either she lied about the lack of classified material, or she lied about being well aware of the classification requirements. You can make a (flimsy, IMHO) argument that the low-level classified stuff was easy to assume it wasn't classified. Stuff that's TS/SCA is usually unmistakable in its sensitivity.

She did not knowingly transmit any classified information.  The closest anything came to being marked classified is the two emails in the OP.  And that wasn't something she originated, that was just something in a quote pyramid that she sent.

This isn't "she gave the Reich blueprints to our 75mm cannon!  Send her to rot!"  This is "she mentioned a plan to make a phone call which wasn't yet public knowledge."

I'm not exactly shitting myself with fear that the Chinese had access to this information a few hours before it was included in the press release.  We aren't talking about a FOMC statement.
Obfuscation. Content isn't the issue here, it's policy. As I have said before, go violate security policy where you work, then try to use "hey no harm, no foul" as your defense.


This isn't getting better for her. (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/08/us/politics/james-comey-fbi-testimony-hillary-clinton-emails.html?_r=0)
Quote
At a contentious hearing of the House oversight committee, Mr. Comey acknowledged under questioning that a number of key assertions that Mrs. Clinton made for months in defending her email system were contradicted by the F.B.I.’s investigation.

Mr. Comey said that Mrs. Clinton had failed to return “thousands” of work-related emails to the State Department, despite her public insistence to the contrary, and that her lawyers may have destroyed classified material that the F.B.I. was unable to recover. He also described her handling of classified material as secretary of state as “negligent” — a legal term he avoided using when he announced on Tuesday that “no reasonable prosecutor” would bring a case against her.

The F.B.I. director repeatedly suggested that someone in the federal government who had done what Mrs. Clinton and her aides did would probably be subject to administrative sanctions.

Asked whether those sanctions could include firing or the loss of security clearance, Mr. Comey said that they could. While an F.B.I. employee who mishandled classified evidence in the way that Mrs. Clinton did would not be prosecuted either, he said sternly, “they would face consequences for this.”

Quote
Republicans were not mollified, and they expressed particular frustration with Mr. Comey when he said that the F.B.I. did not examine Mrs. Clinton’s statements to Congress about her email server to determine whether she had perjured herself.

Mr. Comey said to do that would have required a formal request from Congress, known as a referral.

“You’ll have one in the next few hours,” responded Representative Jason Chaffetz, the Utah Republican who is the committee chairman. His office said later that the committee would probably issue the referral on Friday, a move that would ensure their scrutiny of Mrs. Clinton’s emails extends past the end of the criminal case.

The State Department is also reopening an internal review looking at possible disciplinary action against current employees who may have been involved in the handling of Mrs. Clinton’s emails.

So, to wit:

1. The FBI Director who recommended no indictment has indicated that the facts don't match her testimony.
2. He has indicated that anyone else in the Federal government who had done this would be facing penalties and probably dismissal, revocation of security clearance, etc.
3. He has left the door open for Congress to request the FBI to open a perjury investigation, which they are leaping on like a hungry dog on a filet mignon.

If you'll care to remember, it wasn't the blowjob that got Bill in hot water, it was lying about the blowjob. The emails may not be what sinks Hillary, but rather lying about them.
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: mainiac on July 08, 2016, 02:03:12 pm
Obfuscation. Content isn't the issue here, it's policy. As I have said before, go violate security policy where you work, then try to use "hey no harm, no foul" as your defense.

And that is not the defense.

See the problem I have with you Redking is that you start out conversations politely but you quickly and inevitably resort to straw man arguments.  This is a prime example of how you have invented a false position to argue against.  Any attempt to discuss the actual merits of the case first have to wade through the conversational chaff.

I am going to ask that you leave the thread for this reason.
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: Loud Whispers on July 08, 2016, 02:08:23 pm
Eyo Mainiac you just strawmanned RedKing
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: mainiac on July 08, 2016, 02:13:54 pm
Seriously, LW, wtf?
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: RedKing on July 08, 2016, 05:33:00 pm
Obfuscation. Content isn't the issue here, it's policy. As I have said before, go violate security policy where you work, then try to use "hey no harm, no foul" as your defense.

And that is not the defense.

See the problem I have with you Redking is that you start out conversations politely but you quickly and inevitably resort to straw man arguments.  This is a prime example of how you have invented a false position to argue against.  Any attempt to discuss the actual merits of the case first have to wade through the conversational chaff.

I am going to ask that you leave the thread for this reason.
Then what, pray tell, is the defense? You're explicitly stating that

Quote
This isn't "she gave the Reich blueprints to our 75mm cannon!  Send her to rot!"  This is "she mentioned a plan to make a phone call which wasn't yet public knowledge."

ergo, making an argument that because the content (to your knowledge) was seemingly innocuous, the gravity of the situation doesn't warrant penalties or charges. If this is not your argument, then why make the comment?
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: mainiac on July 08, 2016, 05:46:31 pm
Yes RedKing.  You got me.  I am James Comey.  I am the one who is making legal judgements about whether what Clinton did was right or wrong.  I didn't want to explain my true reasons to Congress but what I'm posting here on the Bay12 forums is actually my real motivations.  This isn't me providing broader context, it is what I, as James Comey, secretly think.
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: RedKing on July 08, 2016, 06:05:50 pm
If you don't want to answer the question, you can just say so.


You weren't making your statements as "James Comey thinks X", therefore I have to assume that this is *your* argument in defense of Clinton. If it is, then man up and defend it. If not, then whose argument is it? And if no one's, then why bother making it?
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: Loud Whispers on July 08, 2016, 06:07:19 pm
Yes RedKing.  You got me.  I am James Comey.  I am the one who is making legal judgements about whether what Clinton did was right or wrong.  I didn't want to explain my true reasons to Congress but what I'm posting here on the Bay12 forums is actually my real motivations.  This isn't me providing broader context, it is what I, as James Comey, secretly think.
RedKing didn't say you were James Comey though

Also in related news:
Quote
In the aftermath of FBI Director James Comey’s recommendation against charges for Hillary Clinton’s email server, typical Republican and left-wing anti-establishment outrage flooded the media. Clinton’s “extreme carelessness,” they said, was more damaging to American national security than Edward Snowden’s, David Petraeus’s, and Bradley Manning’s violations, and thus demanded a proportionate punishment. Though Snowden himself seems puzzled with the verdict, the Comey’s statement was well-reasoned on the issues of intent in the criminal prosecution of national security violations.

What differentiates Snowden’s, Petraeus’s, and Manning’s cases from Clinton’s was that the former three individuals intentionally distributed classified information to unauthorized individuals. Snowden turned over documents on the PRISM program, among other government operations, to The Guardian. Petraeus gave confidential information to Paula Broadwell, his biographer. Bradley Manning sent documents to WikiLeaks. It does not matter whether, in the end, any of these individuals’ actions were morally right or wrong.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anhvinh-doanvo/explaining-snowden-petrae_b_10866318.html
So the lesson here is that Snowden, Petraeus and Manning should have incompetently leaked their files instead of deliberately leaking them

Quote
He added: “If an ordinary worker at the State Department or the CIA … were sending details about the security of embassies, which is alleged to be in her email, meetings with private government officials, foreign government officials and the statements that were made to them in confidence over unclassified email systems, they would not only lose their jobs and lose their clearance, they would very likely face prosecution for it.”
Edward Snowden (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/sep/03/edward-snowden-hillary-clinton-email-server)

And so God turned Edward into a pillar of salt
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: mainiac on July 08, 2016, 06:26:48 pm
If you don't want to answer the question, you can just say so.

If you want to be passive aggressive, you can just say so.

To see why it's not illegal why dont you just read:
https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/statement-by-fbi-director-james-b.-comey-on-the-investigation-of-secretary-hillary-clintons-use-of-a-personal-e-mail-system

Quote
In looking back at our investigations into mishandling or removal of classified information, we cannot find a case that would support bringing criminal charges on these facts. All the cases prosecuted involved some combination of: clearly intentional and willful mishandling of classified information; or vast quantities of materials exposed in such a way as to support an inference of intentional misconduct; or indications of disloyalty to the United States; or efforts to obstruct justice. We do not see those things here.

BTW: Snowden can take his salt and shove it up his self righteous ass.  Because he clearly violates this standard in all regards.  He clearly had intention, it was vast quantities, he showed disloyalty and he made no effort whatsoever to comply.  A citizen can in good conscience decide that justice demands civic disobedience but he doesn't have a leg to stand on in pretending it's a double standard.
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: RedKing on July 08, 2016, 06:46:52 pm
That's Comey's opinion and recommendation. The evidence which he then cited in his press conference (and which he has expanded upon in later testimony yesterday and today) would seem to be contraindicative of that conclusion.

Besides, criminality is not necessary to be censurable conduct. As Comey himself has stated numerous times, this same conduct, had it been an FBI employee, would have been punishable by revocation of security clearance, dismissal and potentially civil fines, even in the absence of criminal penalties. The State Department is reopening its probe to determine if administrative penalty should be levied against Clinton and/or her aides (tougher to levy on Clinton as she's no longer part of State), and this doesn't even enter into the potential perjury issue.


What are your goalposts for "nothing to see here, let's move on"? Is it lack of criminal charges? Lack of administrative penalty? Lack of any contradiction from sworn testimony?
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: Loud Whispers on July 08, 2016, 06:52:52 pm
BTW: Snowden can take his salt and shove it up his self righteous ass.  Because he clearly violates this standard in all regards.  He clearly had intention, it was vast quantities, he showed disloyalty and he made no effort whatsoever to comply.  A citizen can in good conscience decide that justice demands civic disobedience but he doesn't have a leg to stand on in pretending it's a double standard.
He showed disloyalty? Made no effort to comply with people calling him a treasonous traitor? How can you be assured of a fair trial when the people who want you done in for being a traitor are doing things that would've got your job cut and you put in prison? He's got some pretty quality salt right there
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: mainiac on July 08, 2016, 06:58:13 pm
Besides, criminality is not necessary to be censurable conduct.

Which is what I was talking about before you got immensely butthurt and accused me of changing the subject.  So how about you answer the question I already asked.

You have 94% of the emails available including all but one of the "confidential" emails.  There is no particular reason to think the other 6% are any different (they probably just mention the existence of a "secret" drone program in Pakistan).  So which of these emails is censurable.  You have cared about this subject for years.  The emails have been out there a long time.  You have the whole internet at your disposal.

Which line of which email do you have a problem with?  Give an exact quote.  Put up or shut up.
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: Loud Whispers on July 08, 2016, 07:05:19 pm
Which is what I was talking about before you got immensely butthurt and accused me of changing the subject.  So how about you answer the question I already asked.

You have 94% of the emails available including all but one of the "confidential" emails.  There is no particular reason to think the other 6% are any different (they probably just mention the existence of a "secret" drone program in Pakistan).  So which of these emails is censurable.  You have cared about this subject for years.  The emails have been out there a long time.  You have the whole internet at your disposal.

Which line of which email do you have a problem with?  Give an exact quote.  Put up or shut up.
You're asking RedKing to sift through 50,000 pages of stuff to find the 110 Comey is talking about or some other crap
RedKing does not have access to the latter, so cannot even begin to search through the former, if the former were something worth doing
Not even including emails deleted that the FBI couldn't recover (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/07/05/hillary-clintons-email-problems-might-be-even-worse-than-we-thought/)
Quote
It’s hard to read Comey’s statement as anything other than a wholesale rebuke of the story Clinton and her campaign team have been telling ever since the existence of her private email server came to light in spring 2015. She did send and receive classified emails. The setup did leave her — and the classified information on the server — subject to a possible foreign hack. She and her team did delete emails as personal that contained professional information.

Those are facts, facts delivered by the Justice Department of a Democratic administration. And those facts run absolutely counter to the narrative put forth by the Clinton operation: that this whole thing was a Republican witch-hunt pushed by a bored and adversarial media.
Pretty clear right there, earlier you called it in the now locked Murrican thread, bullshit spun up by a hatchet man IIRC
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: mainiac on July 08, 2016, 07:11:35 pm
LW, have you ever, even once in your life, taken the time to consider if your objections might be solvable?  Like on any subject that you have ever had a thought on in your life?

RedKing has all the resources of the internet available.  There's no rush.
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: RedKing on July 08, 2016, 07:26:47 pm
True, but I no longer hold a Federal security clearance, nor would I have had a clearance in the right area in any case.

Are you saying then, that the WikiLeaks dump comprises the entirely of Clinton's server contents? That would seem highly unlikely given the statistics issued by the FBI investigation, and their own admission that Clinton's staff and/or lawyers deleted thousands of emails without reviewing their contents.

Moreover, as I have stated prior, content is irrelevant. Whether the 110 classified emails were regarding critical clandestine operations, or just a surprise birthday party, they are classified and there are strict policies in place regarding the handling of classified material, irregardless of content. You seem to be implying (and if I'm wrong, please explain why) that because the classified emails that have since been declassified and which are available to the public seem to have no strategic import, that no wrongdoing was committed. This is what I was referring to as the "no harm, no foul" defense.

It doesn't work like that. Policies are in place for a reason, and context and intent don't come into play when we're talking about administrative penalties. I'm not even sure they should be considered in criminal cases -- they certainly weren't in Snowden's case. Or in the case of Marine Maj. Jason Brezler (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/07/07/marines-defense-for-disseminating-classified-information-will-cite-hillary-clintons-case/), who was discharged from the Marines for using an unsecured Yahoo account to warn units in Afghanistan that the local police chief was corrupt (and was later proven correct when one of that's chief's lieutenants opened fire on a Marine squad). Brezler even self-reported the breach, and fully cooperated with investigation to determine its extent. Context and intent would certainly seem to clear Maj. Brezler, but that wasn't taken into account.
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: mainiac on July 08, 2016, 07:30:37 pm
I told you to put up or shut up and you dont want to put up.

It doesn't work like that. Policies are in place for a reason, and context and intent don't come into play when we're talking about administrative penalties.

Okay then find me someone who doesn't satisfy one of Comey's standards who received even a fraction of the grief Clinton has.

And really this is just the same evasion.  Which email deserves the sanctions.  Put up or shut up.
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: Flying Dice on July 08, 2016, 07:33:02 pm
Your meaning being...?  Is it that they could get these emails?  Yeah the Chinese can probably get emails that have been publicly declassified and published by the government.
Mocking him for stating the blatantly obvious and his inability to into English.
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: Loud Whispers on July 08, 2016, 07:39:02 pm
True, but I no longer hold a Federal security clearance, nor would I have had a clearance in the right area in any case.

Are you saying then, that the WikiLeaks dump comprises the entirely of Clinton's server contents? That would seem highly unlikely given the statistics issued by the FBI investigation, and their own admission that Clinton's staff and/or lawyers deleted thousands of emails without reviewing their contents.

Moreover, as I have stated prior, content is irrelevant. Whether the 110 classified emails were regarding critical clandestine operations, or just a surprise birthday party, they are classified and there are strict policies in place regarding the handling of classified material, irregardless of content. You seem to be implying (and if I'm wrong, please explain why) that because the classified emails that have since been declassified and which are available to the public seem to have no strategic import, that no wrongdoing was committed. This is what I was referring to as the "no harm, no foul" defense.

It doesn't work like that. Policies are in place for a reason, and context and intent don't come into play when we're talking about administrative penalties. I'm not even sure they should be considered in criminal cases -- they certainly weren't in Snowden's case. Or in the case of Marine Maj. Jason Brezler (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/07/07/marines-defense-for-disseminating-classified-information-will-cite-hillary-clintons-case/), who was discharged from the Marines for using an unsecured Yahoo account to warn units in Afghanistan that the local police chief was corrupt (and was later proven correct when one of that's chief's lieutenants opened fire on a Marine squad). Brezler even self-reported the breach, and fully cooperated with investigation to determine its extent. Context and intent would certainly seem to clear Maj. Brezler, but that wasn't taken into account.

Quote
A Marine Corps officer who has been locked in a legal battle with his service after self-reporting that he improperly disseminated classified information will use Hillary Clinton’s email case to fight his involuntary separation from the service, his lawyer said.
Ahahha, the madman! The madman!

Quote
An attorney for Brezler, Michael J. Bowe, said that he intends to cite the treatment of Clinton “as one of the many, and most egregious examples” of how severely Brezler was punished. FBI Director James B. Comey announced Tuesday that he would not recommend the U.S. government pursue federal charges against Clinton, but he rebuked her “extremely careless” use of a private, unclassified email server while serving as secretary of state. The FBI found that 110 of her emails contained classified information.
That right there is how you demoralize everyone who works under you, it's a bit of a liberty when you can get away with thousands of counts worse than your rank and file

Quote
Supporters of Brezler have renewed the debate about his case since Comey’s announcement about Clinton. They argue that the case shows the discrepancy in how rank-and-file service members and their potential commander-in-chief are treated.
That's depressing
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: mainiac on July 08, 2016, 07:45:32 pm
Far more sensitive information, actively disseminating the information.

Wow, it's almost like you didn't even bother to compare this to the standard Comey laid out.  How completely out of character for the rigorously fact driven LW who is always so careful in what he says.
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: RedKing on July 08, 2016, 07:52:04 pm
I told you to put up or shut up and you dont want to put up.

It doesn't work like that. Policies are in place for a reason, and context and intent don't come into play when we're talking about administrative penalties.

Okay then find me someone who doesn't satisfy one of Comey's standards who received even a fraction of the grief Clinton has.

And really this is just the same evasion.  Which email deserves the sanctions.  Put up or shut up.

Any and all of them. I'm not sure why you find this incomprehensible. CONTENT IS IRRELEVANT.

If, as is reported by the FBI, ~110 classified emails were found on this private server, then all 110 are a violation of Federal policies for the handling of classified material.
I would say Brezler satisfied the three requirements Comey put forth, in that the Marines he sent the email to were authorized recipients, he made no attempts to hide or cover up what he had done, and there was no evidence of disloyalty to the United States. The caveat being that the military has its own policies and procedures with regards to the handling of classified material.
And Brezler was not charged with criminal cnduct, however he did receive an administrative penalty (involuntary separation from the Marine Corps).

If you want to argue that Clinton doesn't deserve criminal charges, I'll buy that (we'd have to agree to disagree on whether there was intent and/or whether there was a coverup). But then she should face administrative penalty, which while it does not disqualify her from running for office, it's certainly not the kind of thing you want on your resume. Especially for a job where you're being briefed at very high levels on a daily basis.

The potential perjury charge is the far bigger worry for her now though.
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: mainiac on July 08, 2016, 08:14:12 pm
Any and all of them. I'm not sure why you find this incomprehensible. CONTENT IS IRRELEVANT.

If, as is reported by the FBI, ~110 classified emails were found on this private server, then all 110 are a violation of Federal policies for the handling of classified material.

And I asked you to give me a single example of why we should treat these breaches of these policies like a big deal.

We learn about things through examining the most pertinent details, not falling back on generalities and gut feeling.  GET SPECIFIC.

If everything is objectionable then just give me one example.  You say that people have been fired for less.  Give me one example of a person fired without any of these
-Active effort disseminate information to unauthorized persons
-Huge amounts of information
-extraordinarily sensitive information
-clear evidence of disloyalty to the US

You ask me to prove that all 30,000 are fine but you wont prove that even a single one of the 30,000 is a problem.  Instead you just fall back on the same thing over and over and over again.

But then she should face administrative penalty

Again this is VAGUE.  Be specific.  Find me another example of someone you think is comparable.  At any point in history going back to the XYZ affair.  Or fuck even before the XYZ affair.  If these administrative penalties are so freaking ubiquitous then why can't you name anyone comparable?

IMHO the administrative penalty that anyone else would get in this situation would be a harshly worded email from their boss and getting angrily told "dont get caught again".
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: RedKing on July 08, 2016, 09:08:34 pm
Any and all of them. I'm not sure why you find this incomprehensible. CONTENT IS IRRELEVANT.

If, as is reported by the FBI, ~110 classified emails were found on this private server, then all 110 are a violation of Federal policies for the handling of classified material.

And I asked you to give me a single example of why we should treat these breaches of these policies like a big deal.
Spoken like a true Clintonista. "Who cares about the rules? Why should they apply to me?"


Quote
We learn about things through examining the most pertinent details, not falling back on generalities and gut feeling.  GET SPECIFIC.

If everything is objectionable then just give me one example.  You say that people have been fired for less.  Give me one example of a person fired without any of these
-Active effort disseminate information to unauthorized persons
-Huge amounts of information
-extraordinarily sensitive information
-clear evidence of disloyalty to the US

1. Peter Van Buren, State Department. Forced into retirement and had his security clearance revoked for linking to a single classified Wikileaks document from his blog, which recounted a visit that John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and Joe Lieberman had with Gaddhafi in 2009. Not exactly critical or super secret. I specifically remember when the initial Wikileaks dump hit the Web. We were all advised in no uncertain terms that the release of these documents in no way constituted declassification, and that accessing, storing or even VIEWING the Wikileaks documents from a government computer could result in administrative action.

2. James Hitselberger, USN. Navy linguist and Arabic translator for the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain. Printed a couple of classified documents to take to his personal quarters on-base at NSA Bahrain, ostensibly to continue work on them. Was intercepted a short time later, the documents removed, and placed into detention and later charged by the Obama administration with violating the 1917 Espionage Act, despite the fact that he made no attempt to print the documents surreptitiously, leave the base with the documents, or pass the documents to any other individuals. Pled guilty to misdemeanor charges to avoid prison time.

3. Bryan Nishimura, USN Reserve. Engineer, copied classified material to personal electronic devices while in Afghanistan. FBI investigated and specifically stated that they found "no intent to distribute" these materials or any evidence of distribution. Nonetheless, he was stripped of his clearance, barred from seeking a future clearance, and sentenced to two years probation and $7500 fine.


There, that's three times what you asked for, and doesn't include the thousands of administrative sanctions that happen across a swath of agencies on a regular basis and don't become public record because these are internal agency matters. I personally know of several special agents, administrative assistants and even one intelligence analyst at BATF who received administrative action for mishandling of classified material, but guess what -- I'm not at liberty to divulge that information.

One of my co-workers and our manager at the time were dismissed for mishandling of sensitive (not even fully classified) information, even though the manager in question wasn't our manager at the time the initial breach occurred and had no knowledge of it. I was rather pissed at that one, but whaddya gonna do? Security gets compromised, heads gotta roll. At least as long as your head is below a certain pay grade.

Quote
You ask me to prove that all 30,000 are fine but you wont prove that even a single one of the 30,000 is a problem.  Instead you just fall back on the same thing over and over and over again.

But then she should face administrative penalty

Again this is VAGUE.  Be specific.  Find me another example of someone you think is comparable.  At any point in history going back to the XYZ affair.  Or fuck even before the XYZ affair.  If these administrative penalties are so freaking ubiquitous then why can't you name anyone comparable?

IMHO the administrative penalty that anyone else would get in this situation would be a harshly worded email from their boss and getting angrily told "dont get caught again".
I mean this in the nicest way possible, but -- please don't act like you have experience with how this actually works. You have not, to the best of my knowledge, held a Federal security clearance. I have. My half-brother has. My father has and still does.

This is not "don't get caught again", this is "you are in deep shit, son".
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: mainiac on July 08, 2016, 10:26:05 pm
Oh, so you will second guess James Comey but god forbid I imagine what it's like to have a security clearance...

How could a lowly economist in Washington DC know what that is like to have a security clearance?  All I have to go on is the experiences of my mother, my brother, my cousin, my younger brother who nearly got a security clearance as a part time electrician in a bus depot (but quit instead like a dumbass), half a dozen former coworkers and that I have interviewed for half a dozen security clearance positions in the past month.  Oh and I have known for twenty years a woman who is now a senior state department official (former consulate general of Quebec, I used to crash in her house when she was out of the country).  Ironically she was once even lauded for going down to Belize and sorting through the shit show that was their communications.  Plus I handle sensitive information every week or two as a mediator for the local courts.

The issue here isn't that I dont know what sensitive information is.  The issue is that we disagree on the severity of this.  Which is why it sure would be great to be specific about the complaint.

Let me put it this way.  I think that the two pieces of text in the original post are the worst breaches of data.  The timing of a phone call and the information of a UN diplomats retirement plans later that day were the most sensitive information involved.  The drone stuff has been public knowledge for years and the government just doesn't want to openly admit it because that would cause a headache in Pakistan.  Do you disagree?  Would you like to suggest an email with more sensitive information?  Do you currently have several different items under consideration and you aren't sure which is worst yet?

1. Peter Van Buren

After several months of legal battles, the State Department withdrew its intent to fire Van Buren and he instead retired with the pension and benefits State sought to take away from him. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_van_Buren)
Great example.  They should treat Hillary Clinton exactly this way.  Now that the investigation has run it's course and it turns out that there was nothing to it they should let her move on without any more trouble.  Of course I wish that neither Peter van Buren nor Hillary Clinton had been judged prematurely but at least now that the investigation has run it's course we can agree that they should be allowed to get on with their book deals and presidencies.

Of course it would also be nice if Hillary Clinton didn't get publicly admonished.  Peter van Buren didn't get publicly scolded, they simply withdrew the charges.

Quote
James Hitselberger
The information was clearly marked Secret, it was a great deal more information and it was very apparent that it was a violation.  The nature of the information (gaps in US intelligence in the exact community it was in) made the consequences of the information getting lost a clear and present danger.  Unlike for instance if the Russians learned the timing of Clinton's phone conversation with the president of Malawi.

Quote
Bryan Nishimura
Confessed to holding and then destroying large amounts of classified information. (https://www.fbi.gov/sacramento/press-releases/2015/folsom-naval-reservist-is-sentenced-after-pleading-guilty-to-unauthorized-removal-and-retention-of-classified-materials)  Said that he felt he had great representation so the confession presumably was merited.  Thus when we compare it to the standards laid out by James Comey it is not equivalent.  He both held a great deal more information and actively obstructed an investigation.  You could argue that he tried to disseminate information but because it never went to a verdict AFAIK there is no legal precedent or standard to evaluate that by.  And after all that, a fine and probation.


I will say that there is a troubling precedent running through these cases.  There is a great deal of prosecutorial discretion involved and we desperately need to update a law that is nearly 100 years old.  However the findings of everyone actually assigned to investigate the case is that there is nothing to charge Hillary Clinton with.  These two men were charged with crimes and pled guilty.

One of my co-workers and our manager at the time were dismissed for mishandling of sensitive (not even fully classified) information, even though the manager in question wasn't our manager at the time the initial breach occurred and had no knowledge of it. I was rather pissed at that one, but whaddya gonna do? Security gets compromised, heads gotta roll. At least as long as your head is below a certain pay grade.

Dont say "not even classified".  Classified includes Hillary Clinton saying that she will move lunch from 12:35 to 12:45.  If you want my heart to bleed for your coworker then please show me an email from Hillary Clinton that contains more sensitive information then what your coworker used.  And you'll have to provide some details about your coworkers case beyond "not even classified".  Unless you can be specific it's just hot air.
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: RedKing on July 08, 2016, 10:38:37 pm
You agree that it's troubling that the laws are not being applied consistently, but you're totes okay with that in this case because it means senpai is off the hook.

And no matter how many other examples I can find (most of which, as I said, are not a matter of public record) you're gonna nitpick and argue till you're Democrat Blue in the face that it's not the same thing and therefore no comparison can be made. And the ones I know from personal experience, I can't share specific details of because (wait for it....) they're classified.

Yeah, we're done. Enjoy being undisputed king of your echo chamber.
Imma just leave this here. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FjWe31S_0g)
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: mainiac on July 08, 2016, 10:43:10 pm
You agree that it's troubling that the laws are not being applied consistently, but you're totes okay with that in this case because it means senpai is off the hook.

No I did not say that.  If you stopped this halfway through it would be the statement I made.

you're gonna nitpick

It's a very transparent standard, I specified it ahead of time and I got it by directly quoting James Comey.  This isn't nitpicking.  This is reading the freaking press release.  It hinges around a little technicality called guilt or innocence.  The innocent should not be punished.

Yeah, we're done. Enjoy being undisputed king of your echo chamber.
Imma just leave this here. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FjWe31S_0g)

Very well, I asked you to put up or shut up.  Shut up works for me!
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: birdy51 on July 08, 2016, 11:05:35 pm
Arguably, as a third party I'm more swayed by RedKing's argument than yours my good man. I can agree that most of the emails sent out aren't worth Republican's and layfolk shitting their pants about, but one does have to wonder about that percentage of documents we don't know about.

Truth be told, if it's something we're not hearing about, it very well could be something that we should be worried about being unsecure.

That said? Those last emails are a black box. The people who are in the know aren't us. As it exists currently, it's simultaneously living in the public eye as either; classified but mundane, classified but absolutely not mundane, or as a torrid, steamy, top-level classified love letter from Ms. Clinton to Senator Sanders.

The only common factor as put forth by RedKing is that they classified documents shouldn't be unprotected. Period. End of discussion.

Your own position is that content matters more than classification. Which is ok. But I wouldn't be too surprised that there are arguments for further prosecution either, especially with this blustery political climate.
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: mainiac on July 09, 2016, 12:32:15 am
Arguably, as a third party I'm more swayed by RedKing's argument than yours my good man. I can agree that most of the emails sent out aren't worth Republican's and layfolk shitting their pants about, but one does have to wonder about that percentage of documents we don't know about.

What secret documents we dont know about?  There are documents that are still classified.  There are no secret documents we dont know about.  These fall into two categories.

A) When the investigation started, a large number of documents were put under scrutiny.  The various agencies kicked them around and retroactively classified 2000 of them.  The key word here is retroactively.  This information was not classified at the time.  Clinton could CC'd the editors of Russia Today on these emails and she wouldn't have been breaking any rules.  If you want an issue with these, you need to go find some new person to try and blame.

B) A much smaller number weren't classified but contained scattered bits of classified information that has since been declassified.  During the investigation it turned out that Clinton had 110 emails that contained classified information plus the remnants of 3 more emails containing classified information that were deleted before the investigation started by typical server maintenance but could be retrieved by forensics.  Of these, two included "(C)" and none of them contained headers or footers indicating classification.  The classified information seems to overwhelmingly have taken the form of reply quotes, including the two "(C)".

Of these the vast majority have been declassified.  This includes all 8 which were marked top secret.  Of the top secret classifications, 7 discussed the drone program in pakistan and yemen (the last mentioned details about a private conversation with the president of malawi and is automatically top secret even if they just discussed his jock itch.)  The details of the drone program were all things that were freely available on the new york times or various other news outlets.  The US government just classifies a whole lot of drone stuff because the governments of those pakistan and yemen dont want the US doing overt actions in their territory and they're allies for what it's worth.

C) And now finally we get to the handful that aren't declassified yet.  I'm having trouble figuring out the exact number because Comey didn't say it and the news sources keep mixing up their terms.  It's somewhere between 18 and 3 email chains.  If someone emailed Clinton and Clinton replied with a quote, that's an email chain.  You can click the links in the OP for examples of email chains.  These dont have to involve Clinton being the one actually putting the information in an unsafe place.  Her just receiving the information would count towards this total.

So there are a handful of email chains.  They have been gone over with a fine toothed comb by the nations leading lawyers, spies and military officials.  These people have given absolutely no indication that the contents of these emails were radically different from the declassified ones.  Several of them have testified to congress under oath and said as much.  These emails didn't contain "Top Secret" information.  They refuse to release them because they involve an ongoing operation, a rule that has been in place for decades.

Now consider the two possibilities:

1) Every single person who has seen those emails has decided to become an accomplice to criminal activity, perjure themselves extensively and commit all kinds of major crimes.  So for example Comey and McCullough just went to Congress today and made themselves eligible for life in prison.

2) The handful of emails still classified were a lot like all the other ones but mention an ongoing operation.  Like hypothetically maybe the US is still operating drones in Pakistan and someone in the Pakistani government secretly admitted to knowing about it.  If this were the case then all you would need to do to get a sense of the handful of "secret" documents is read any of the thousands of unsecret ones at your disposal.

The only common factor as put forth by RedKing is that they classified documents shouldn't be unprotected. Period. End of discussion.

I would agree with that actually.  It's the "therefore she is a horrible person" part I take issue with.

Edit: BONUS!

A group of concerned citizens have started helpfully listing US legal codes on the FBI webpage: https://www.facebook.com/FBI/reviews/
So far they seem to keep doing the same one but it's still an extremely useful project.

Quote
18 U.S. Code § 798 – Disclosure of classified information
(a)Whoever knowingly and willfully communicates, furnishes, transmits, or otherwise makes available to an unauthorized person, or publishes, or uses in any manner prejudicial to the safety or interest of the United States or for the benefit of any foreign government to the detriment of the United States any classified information—
(1) concerning the nature, preparation, or use of any code, cipher, or cryptographic system of the United States or any foreign government; or
(2) concerning the design, construction, use, maintenance, or repair of any device, apparatus, or appliance used or prepared or planned for use by the United States or any foreign government for cryptographic or communication intelligence purposes; or
(3) concerning the communication intelligence activities of the United States or any foreign government; or
(4) obtained by the processes of communication intelligence from the communications of any foreign government, knowing the same to have been obtained by such processes—
Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both

So if you want to see what law she didn't break but which those two dudes from before did break, theere ya go!
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: Loud Whispers on July 09, 2016, 05:56:26 am
Far more sensitive information, actively disseminating the information.

Wow, it's almost like you didn't even bother to compare this to the standard Comey laid out.  How completely out of character for the rigorously fact driven LW who is always so careful in what he says.
Are you ok?
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: MarcAFK on July 09, 2016, 07:31:49 am
Quote
stuff happening
https://kiwifar.ms/attachments/jmtzv-gif.21465/
Ignore the popcorn, it's horrible stuff anyway, fake butter causes cancer.
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: penguinofhonor on July 09, 2016, 07:38:31 am
I'd also appreciate it if the popcorn people would refrain, forever, from making posts like that in any thread.  It further sours the atmosphere and makes moderating the forum more difficult.
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: MarcAFK on July 09, 2016, 07:42:53 am
oh god that thread, I forgot how it ended.
Title: Re: Anyone ever read those Clinton emails?
Post by: mainiac on July 09, 2016, 08:40:25 am
Quote
stuff happening
https://kiwifar.ms/attachments/jmtzv-gif.21465/
Ignore the popcorn, it's horrible stuff anyway, fake butter causes cancer.

Personally I'm fine with you saying you find this shit entertaining to watch.  What pisses me off is where people are actively insulting the participants but no one cares because they aren't taking sides.  Go back through all the locked threads and you will see that usually before the rage started someone was mocking the arguing parties from the sidelines.

You want to eat your popcorn?  Then do something about the peanut gallery.  The two of you can not coexist, one will reign triumphant over the other.