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Now that it's finally over and people won't be able to push for their preferred candidate, can someone shed light on what the email ruckus was all about? Sure,

Now that it's finally over and people won't be able to push for their preferred candidate, can someone shed light on what the email ruckus was all about? Sure, personal server was used, etc. However, this is a community of tech literate people. We know that email is not and cannot be a secure medium. The only ways I can think of to transmit secure email messages is by making the medium irrelevant (encryption), or by using something else (ie. private 'secure' email-like mechanism). Had the emails been encrypted, it wouldn't matter if they were stored on top of the hollywood sign. So what gives? Does that mean that the US transfers classified information through totally insecure channels?

cobbzilla 10y ago
from the conspiracy theorist POV, the suspicion was a pay-to-play Department of State, where donations to the Clinton Foundation were used to buy favors with the government. There were many large Middle Eastern donors to the foundation at a time when we made some of our largest arms deals to authoritarian governments there.
ryanx435 10y ago
Government emails are required to go through official government servers for a multitude of reasons, one of which is transparency of government and the ability to fulfil FOIA requests. Encryption doesn't solve the problem because the problem is that she was breaking the law and attempting to hide information from the American people
snowwrestler 10y ago
To answer your specific question, the federal government deals with the same security vs. convenience dilemma that everyone else does. There are classified communications systems but they have fewer client devices and are harder to use. Quite a few of the emails in Clinton's inbox that contained classified information were drafted by other people in other agencies (including CIA, NSA, etc) who either did not realize that a particular piece of info was classified, or who wanted to get it to her quickly through the most convenient medium--they did a risk/reward calculation and hit send. The other thing to know about classified information is that it does not get unclassified just because it's public. So if I email you a NYTimes article about a classified drone strike program, you now have classified info in your inbox. Again, that explains some of the emails she had in her inbox--forwarding news stories around. Finally, the amount of classified information is staggering and detailed. Like everyone knows that the government flies U2 planes for surveillance, but their maximum altitude and endurance might be classified. So it's possible to have an email that is mostly fine but includes a few classified details. This complexity is why it has taken so long to review and release all her emails. Every single one has to be reviewed by relevant experts. In short, people hear "classified information" and immediately think of something like the "NOC list" of covert agents from Mission Impossible. The reality is that immense amounts of information are classified, and it's easy to screw up. There is a reason the FBI said that no prosecutor would bother prosecuting Clinton.
- outworlder 10y ago
  Thanks for the detailed answer, that's very helpful.
_up 10y ago
The FBI published parts of the Investigation [1]. There is also a seperate one into the Clinton Foundation [2]. And there seams to exist a declassified email+attachement between Petraeus (CIA) and Hillary where they had to edge out a serial [3]. [1] https://vault.fbi.gov/hillary-r.-clinton https://vault.fbi.gov/hillary-r.-clinton [2] https://vault.fbi.gov/william-j.-clinton-foundation https://vault.fbi.gov/william-j.-clinton-foundation [3] https://vault.fbi.gov/david-howell-petraeus https://vault.fbi.gov/david-howell-petraeus - (last pages of 2nd pdf)
grzm 10y ago
You might find this article useful: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/hillary-clinton-emails-2016-server-state-department-fbi-214307 http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/hillary-clint... I found this podcast useful regarding the legal nitty-gritty: http://openargs.com/oa13-hillary-clintons-damned-emails/ http://openargs.com/oa13-hillary-clintons-damned-emails/
AnimalMuppet 10y ago
The emails aren't usually stored encrypted - they have to be readable, after all. The hard drive could be encrypted, but that's separate from the emails themselves being encrypted. The main email account of the United States Secretary of State was sitting on a non-government, not-very-well-physically-secured, not-even-all-that-well-electronically-secured email server. That's a really bad lapse (one that could significantly harm the US in various international situations, if any foreign government breached the server). It is also very much against the rules. Worse is the "optics" of it. It at least looks like she did this so that nobody could use those emails against her during her run for president, because nobody could find them. That makes you wonder what kind of dirt was in them. It also looks like she thinks the rules are for other people, but not for her.

cobbzilla 10y ago

from the conspiracy theorist POV, the suspicion was a pay-to-play Department of State, where donations to the Clinton Foundation were used to buy favors with the government. There were many large Middle Eastern donors to the foundation at a time when we made some of our largest arms deals to authoritarian governments there.

ryanx435 10y ago

Government emails are required to go through official government servers for a multitude of reasons, one of which is transparency of government and the ability to fulfil FOIA requests. Encryption doesn't solve the problem because the problem is that she was breaking the law and attempting to hide information from the American people

snowwrestler 10y ago

To answer your specific question, the federal government deals with the same security vs. convenience dilemma that everyone else does. There are classified communications systems but they have fewer client devices and are harder to use. Quite a few of the emails in Clinton's inbox that contained classified information were drafted by other people in other agencies (including CIA, NSA, etc) who either did not realize that a particular piece of info was classified, or who wanted to get it to her quickly through the most convenient medium--they did a risk/reward calculation and hit send. The other thing to know about classified information is that it does not get unclassified just because it's public. So if I email you a NYTimes article about a classified drone strike program, you now have classified info in your inbox. Again, that explains some of the emails she had in her inbox--forwarding news stories around. Finally, the amount of classified information is staggering and detailed. Like everyone knows that the government flies U2 planes for surveillance, but their maximum altitude and endurance might be classified. So it's possible to have an email that is mostly fine but includes a few classified details. This complexity is why it has taken so long to review and release all her emails. Every single one has to be reviewed by relevant experts. In short, people hear "classified information" and immediately think of something like the "NOC list" of covert agents from Mission Impossible. The reality is that immense amounts of information are classified, and it's easy to screw up. There is a reason the FBI said that no prosecutor would bother prosecuting Clinton.

outworlder 10y ago
Thanks for the detailed answer, that's very helpful.

_up 10y ago

The FBI published parts of the Investigation [1]. There is also a seperate one into the Clinton Foundation [2]. And there seams to exist a declassified email+attachement between Petraeus (CIA) and Hillary where they had to edge out a serial [3]. [1] https://vault.fbi.gov/hillary-r.-clinton https://vault.fbi.gov/hillary-r.-clinton [2] https://vault.fbi.gov/william-j.-clinton-foundation https://vault.fbi.gov/william-j.-clinton-foundation [3] https://vault.fbi.gov/david-howell-petraeus https://vault.fbi.gov/david-howell-petraeus - (last pages of 2nd pdf)

grzm 10y ago

You might find this article useful: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/hillary-clinton-emails-2016-server-state-department-fbi-214307 http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/hillary-clint... I found this podcast useful regarding the legal nitty-gritty: http://openargs.com/oa13-hillary-clintons-damned-emails/ http://openargs.com/oa13-hillary-clintons-damned-emails/

AnimalMuppet 10y ago

The emails aren't usually stored encrypted - they have to be readable, after all. The hard drive could be encrypted, but that's separate from the emails themselves being encrypted. The main email account of the United States Secretary of State was sitting on a non-government, not-very-well-physically-secured, not-even-all-that-well-electronically-secured email server. That's a really bad lapse (one that could significantly harm the US in various international situations, if any foreign government breached the server). It is also very much against the rules. Worse is the "optics" of it. It at least looks like she did this so that nobody could use those emails against her during her run for president, because nobody could find them. That makes you wonder what kind of dirt was in them. It also looks like she thinks the rules are for other people, but not for her.