Clinton Persistently Denies Wrongdoing in E-mail Controversy
September 18, 2015
Several months after it came to the attention of the public, Hillary Clinton’s email scandal continues to make for news stories and loss of Americans’ trust.
Following Clinton’s continuous denial of both sending and receiving classified information from a private e-mail account unaffiliated with the U.S. government, her campaign finally said in August that many emails were, in fact, classified.
Still, despite the gravity of the issue, Clinton does not seem fazed by it; she only reacts passionately when she accuses the press and concerned Americans of blowing the whole thing out of proportion.
Clinton used both a Blackberry and an iPad while working as Secretary of State but claimed she did not want to deal with the inconvenience of carrying two phones. To avoid that inconvenience, she managed both her personal e-mail and work-related U.S. government e-mail through the same private account and server. The information sent and received through that private server could fall into the hands of hackers or spies, as its security lacked U.S. government control. Americans cannot be certain of what exactly the e-mails contained, but they can be certain of the possibility that classified, United States information might now be accessible to foreign eyes.
The 2016 presidential candidate’s mistake may not be as concerning as her way of addressing it. Instead of doing what she could to earn back the trust of the very people who have the power to elect her, Clinton sarcastically and almost arrogantly refused to apologize. Today, still, she has not promised a better approach in the future if she were to win next year’s election. That, though, seems less likely each time Clinton refuses to take full responsibility for her error.
If Clinton does not see her mistake as an issue, she might want to remember the way her husband handled John Deutch’s situation. During his presidency, Bill Clinton pardoned Deutch, who served as CIA director, because Deutch kept classified U.S. government material on his home computers.
Following Bill Clinton’s pardon of John Deutch, it would seem Hillary should be well aware of the dangers of managing government e-mails on a private account. Yet months into the scandal she still claims to have done little to nothing wrong.
For the sake of the American people, Clinton must understand her fault and why the news still covers her e-mail controversy months later. “She works for us,” said The Five’s Kimberly Guilfoyle, “Not the other way around.”