Patterico's Pontifications

1/19/2016

Hillary Clinton: “Several Dozen” Emails Classified Beyond “Top Secret”

Filed under: General — Dana @ 11:19 pm



[guest post by Dana]

Is this what will finally seal Hillary Clinton’s fate?

Hillary Clinton’s emails on her unsecured, homebrew server contained intelligence from the U.S. government’s most secretive and highly classified programs, according to an unclassified letter from a top inspector general to senior lawmakers.

Fox News exclusively obtained the unclassified letter, sent Jan. 14 from Intelligence Community Inspector General I. Charles McCullough III. It laid out the findings of a recent comprehensive review by intelligence agencies that identified “several dozen” additional classified emails — including specific intelligence known as “special access programs” (SAP).

That indicates a level of classification beyond even “top secret,” the label previously given to two emails found on her server, and brings even more scrutiny to the presidential candidate’s handling of the government’s closely held secrets.

“To date, I have received two sworn declarations from one [intelligence community] element. These declarations cover several dozen emails containing classified information determined by the IC element to be at the confidential, secret, and top secret/sap levels,” said the IG letter to lawmakers with oversight of the intelligence community and State Department. “According to the declarant, these documents contain information derived from classified IC element sources.”

Intelligence from a “special access program,” or SAP, is even more sensitive than that designated as “top secret” – as were two emails identified last summer in a random sample pulled from Clinton’s private server she used as secretary of state. Access to a SAP is restricted to those with a “need-to-know” because exposure of the intelligence would likely reveal the source, putting a method of intelligence collection — or a human asset — at risk. Currently, some 1,340 emails designated “classified” have been found on Clinton’s server, though the Democratic presidential candidate insists the information was not classified at the time.

You know who had to get special clearance before he could even view the sworn declaration about the Clinton email? Charles McCullough, the intelligence community’s inspector general, that’s who. And that’s how serious this business is.

Now with this new revelation, how will officials respond, and will they try to brush it under the rug? Unlikely, says Charles Krauthammer:

“What people have to understand is that there is nothing higher, more secret than an SAP,” Krauthammer said on Tuesday’s Special Report. “From some people I have talked to, this is worse than what Snowden did because he didn’t have access to SAP.” “The reason it’s [so sensitive] is if it’s compromised, people die,” he said. “It also means that operations that have been embedded for years and years get destroyed and cannot be reconstituted. This is very serious.”

Petraeus, as was mentioned earlier, he pled guilty because precisely this kind of information he shared. And I don’t see, given the fact that he is the inspector general of the intelligence community who was writing this officially to the intelligence committee heads in Congress that there is any way to contradict this. It is not a news story. This is an investigative story. And now it’s in the hands of the FBI. It’s hard to imagine that the Department of Justice will ignore this or wave it away.”

Further, this comes right on the heels of it being confirmed that officials in the State Dept. knew about Clinton’s use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state.

All of which makes it utterly ironic to see her make this statement:

Untitled-1

If you say so, Hillary. If you say so.

–Dana

43 Responses to “Hillary Clinton: “Several Dozen” Emails Classified Beyond “Top Secret””

  1. Well, does she go down?

    Dana (86e864)

  2. What’s not much less appalling are all the millions of Americans who have had, based on opinion polls going back several years, a soft spot in their heart for Bill’s partner in crime. I’ve never understood her appeal to that part of this society that, because the pro-Hillary percentages have been quite high, must include a fairly significant portion of non-liberals, if not outright conservatives.

    Phenomenon like that are why I go on and on — yea, I know — about left-leaning biases in humans. Nothing damages good judgment and logic greater than that.

    Mark (f713e4)

  3. Obama must be establishing a predicate for Hillary’s indictment.
    Just a couple days ago, the Pentagon floated the idea of General Petraeus being demoted, as evidence that his special rank does not afford him special treatment. And what he did is much less than what Hillary appears to have done.
    About a week or so ago, Joe Biden publicly mentioned how he has regrets about not having jumped into the race a few months ago.
    Now, if Hillary appears to be facing an indictment, Joe might be drafted into the race.

    Barack really wants the Dem nominee to be someone who will not only facilitate his policies, but also be someone who will extend him access to the White House and all the trimmings. He knows that if Hillary were to become President, that she and Bill totally shut him out.

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  4. Serious question…. does anyone know if these emails were turned over to Hillary’s attorneys – and what the attorney’s, and their staff’s, security clearance was at the time ??

    bendover (1b3d67)

  5. She is trailer trash.
    Hang the butch.

    mg (31009b)

  6. Obama is turning the heat up on her as much as possible because a pardon is already a done deal. The price however, keeps going up as her list of crimes builds.

    Mr Black (3efb66)

  7. she’s crusty

    happyfeet (831175)

  8. Attention to citation!

    http://www.ussnautilus.org/undersea/cromwell.html

    For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as Commander of a Submarine Coordinated Attack Group with Flag in the USS Sculpin, during the 9th War Patrol of that vessel in enemy-controlled waters off Truk Island, 19 November 1943. Undertaking this patrol prior to the launching of our first large-scale offensive in the Pacific, CAPT Cromwell, alone of the entire Task Group, possessed secret intelligence information of our submarine strategy and tactics, scheduled Fleet movements and specific attack plans. Constantly vigilant and precise in carrying out his secret orders, he moved his underseas flotilla inexorably forward despite savage opposition and established a line of submarines to southeastward of the main Japanese stronghold at Truk. Cool and undaunted as the submarine, rocked and battered by Japanese depth charges, sustained terrific battle damage and sank to an excessive depth, he authorized the Sculpin to surface and engage the enemy in a gunfight, thereby providing an opportunity for the crew to abandon ship. Determined to sacrifice himself rather than risk capture and subsequent danger of revealing plans under Japanese torture or use of drugs, he stoically remained aboard the mortally wounded vessel as she plunged to her death. Preserving the security of his mission, at the cost of his own life, he had served his country as he had served the Navy, with deep integrity and an uncompromising devotion to duty. His great moral courage in the face of certain death adds new luster to the traditions of the US Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

    How the h3ll is this woman qualified to be the CinC? Surely somebody comments here who is a
    fan, and would have the guts to voxsplain this all to me.

    Twenty somethings who join the military get this. You learn this. You learn about Captain Cromwell. It’s not hard, it’s not complicated, it’s not incomprehensible legalese. It’s simple, really. You take this to your grave.

    See how simple that was? Not even a two syllable word in the last sentence.

    But Hillary! couldn’t be inconvenienced with a government email account.

    Steve57 (f61b03)

  9. Steve57. I remember seeing that on the old Navy Log show, going on fifty years ago. I suppose they told us different stories when I was in the Army, but that one stayed with me anyway.
    As they say in French, it is to puke.
    Actually, it is to weep.

    Richard Aubrey (472a6f)

  10. Stick a fork in her.

    DNF (755a85)

  11. I feel sorry for that fork.

    mg (31009b)

  12. Please correct me if I misunderstand, but … if someone has not been indicted nor charged, can that person be pardoned ?

    Alastor (f6e839)

  13. Mr. Aubrey, I’m sure they did tell you different stories. I’m sure they involve people just as Stalwart as CAPT Cromwell.

    But for some stupid reason the only one that comes to mind is Edwin Price Ramsey, who led the last cavalry charge in US Army history. The 26the Regiment of the Philippine Scouts. I suppose because observers say he fought like a hungry tiger, and I was born in the year of the tiger. And I spent time in and have a great deal of affection for the Philippines.

    But LT Ramsey’s example is not directly applicable. Unfortunately.

    Steve57 (f61b03)

  14. Yes, Alastor. They can be “for any and all crimes and offenses in violation of the laws of the United States”, like Nixon’s. Or they can be “any person who violated the Selective Service Act before 1976(?)”, like the Vietnam draft dodger “amnesty” issued by President Carter.

    nk (dbc370)

  15. Basically, Mr. Aubrey, that was an apology to you and all the Army types for me being so
    parochial.

    Air Force, too.

    I make no apology for the fact that when I drive past Camp Pendleton, I bow my head at
    Basilone Road. My paisan, Manilla John.

    I grew up in a Navy town. The sea services are what I know best.

    But it’s not as if I’m entirely without respect.

    http://www.aviation-history.com/airmen/boyd.htmn

    Steve57 (f61b03)

  16. Dana,
    I know you are quoting the source and it’s not your mistake, but I think it’s incorrect to call it “beyond” top secret. There are only 3 real classifications – confidential, secret, and top secret (4 if you count unclassified). There are other terms that are also floating around such as “for official use only” but, the point is, when it comes to classified information there is no super secret Jason Bourne-type classification “beyond” top secret (TS).

    So, what is there? Well, even things classified as TS are not open to all who have the clearance. For instance, I am in the military and have a clearance but I can’t just stroll in and get any document that is at my clearance level – I still have to have an official need for the information.

    That’s where SAP (special access programs) comes in. It’s also where you hear terms like “sensitive compartmented information” (SCI). So, Fox News was just a little imprecise by saying that it is above TS. What the info was, was actually TS classified information with a SAP label so only those who could prove a use and a need were read in to the info.

    Of course, as Secretary of State, Clinton most likely had that need to know.

    None of this excuses here blatant disregard for the law and her clear need to put locked up for her crimes which potentially exposed the country and specific intel assets to great danger.

    She’s a crook, but of course we already knew that!

    RS (60001b)

  17. Clearance + Need To Know = Access

    Sorry for not getting the job done. All I can say in my own defense is, how do you explain chocolate to someone who has never had chocolate?

    Steve57 (f61b03)

  18. She’s losing big time == to the communist == in New Hampshire.

    papertiger (c2d6da)

  19. Is this anything more than satellite intelligence? Material derived from that is discussed all the time. It isn’t really secret. And if that never could be discussed outside of officialdom, nobody could understand anything about national security policy. The information about Iran’s nuclear program is in that category. Maybe discussions of North Korean nuclear tests. Iran’s ballistic missile program. Or the Stuxnet virus, which eventually was discovered by independent computer reseachers. (although they tried to limit it, it spread outside of Iranian computers) Sanctions violations.

    It also seems now to be highly secret whatever it was that got Navy people into Iranian hands.Maybe it deserves to be. Maybe it doesn’t. But many things are going to fall into a general category of highly secret by any kind of general rule, at least until some thought it given to it.

    It could also be a highly secret source, like that e-mail that said all of our intelligence about X comes from Y. Or some method of intelligence that isn’t even suspected.

    And very bad also is anything that indicates that the United States is believing disinformation.

    Hillary Clinton was forwarding (probably Russian) disinformation from Sidney Blumenthal and having it circulated within the government and obtaining the reaction.

    I think a big secret of Hillary’s is maybe that she reported back to Sidney Bluementhal.

    That would not have been retrieved by the algorithm that she and her lawyers negotiated with the State Department as to what was an official record. It was not something that went to a state.gov e-mail address, or fell into a few other search categories, like a few recipients, or terms like Libya or Benghazi (that the request from the Trey Committee covered)

    And only the body and the subject of a message was searched, not any attachments, although if a message was retrieved the attachment was also sent to teh State Department.

    Sammy Finkelman (dbec95)

  20. 3. bendover (1b3d67) — 1/20/2016 @ 12:22 am

    Serious question…. does anyone know if these emails were turned over to Hillary’s attorneys – and what the attorney’s, and their staff’s, security clearance was at the time ??

    I believe the lawyers kept a copy of whatever was turned over to the State Deppartment. They also obviously had had access to what was NOT kept. Although it seems to be they mostly used searches to actually look at things. Now I’m talking only about what the lawyers admit to. Maybe they kept the deleted, “personal” e-mails, too, somewhere.

    The lawyers had obtained permission from the State Department to keep copies, after they had turned over paper records, on the grounds that Hillary needed to answer questions, and it was very reasonable for the State Department to agree, because otherwise the electronic records might have been destroyed, and they didn’t have them. The law firm had a few flash drives.

    This permission however did not deal with classified material. I think some people in Williams and Connally (sp?) did have regular security clearance, and they would have been the ones to have custody. But some of it was even, in retrospect, even more highly classified, and there was the issue of protection and they ave up custody a little while after all this became public.

    Sammy Finkelman (dbec95)

  21. RS (60001b) — 1/20/2016 @ 4:30 am

    . For instance, I am in the military and have a clearance but I can’t just stroll in and get any document that is at my clearance level – I still have to have an official need for the information.

    But you could make up an excuse!

    Of course, as Secretary of State, Clinton most likely had that need to know.

    Otherwise, she wouldn’t have had it, or her aides wouldn’t have had, in the first place.

    None of this excuses here blatant disregard for the law and her clear need to put locked up for her crimes which potentially exposed the country and specific intel assets to great danger.

    As I said, I think the worst thing she may have done is report back to Sidney Blumenthal on the reception that his disinformation got within the U.S. Government.

    Sammy Finkelman (dbec95)

  22. RS,

    I think the point is, it’s undeniable the level of trouble she now finds herself.

    What do you think will happen? Will she be indicted? Whose waiting in the wings – Biden or Warren? (With Warren, he not only gets his legacy continued by someone equally as progressive, if not more, and a woman. With Biden, he gets a known quantity.

    And how furious and scared must both Bill and Hillary be at this point in time?

    Dana (86e864)

  23. I believe her attorneys did NOT have any clearance when she first handed them the stuff to go through and “sort out”,
    That would be consistent with her claim that there was nothing classified there,
    But would put them in jeopardy too if they looked at it,
    Although if things had their designations stripped maybe they could claim ignorance, unlike HRC

    Thank God for people that have the courage to do their job, like the IG here.
    Let us pray for more of them.

    MD in Philly (not in Philly) (deca84)

  24. Doc, and I hope you don’t mind if I call you doc. I think maybe we cleared this up. Back when I was on the job they called me spy. Feel free.

    Please see my last @16. No, her attorneys were not authorized access. They are just as guilty as if they were entirely uncleared.

    I’ve been spouting out about this for the last couple of years. And, really, it’s not about politics.

    Steve57 (f61b03)

  25. Hillary has been set up by people even more devious than she is. The only question that remains is whether or not POTUS decides on Biden as his easily controlled successor or even Bernie?

    Bar Sinister (c62a89)

  26. If Hillary isn’t indicted, the rule of law will have, for all intents and purposes, ended in America. #EqualJusticeUnderLaw

    But given the current state of affairs and this DOJ, I’ll believe it when I see it.

    Colonel Haiku (aacf41)

  27. Wait a minute… teh bi+ch set up teh bi+ch???

    Colonel Haiku (aacf41)

  28. What difference, at this point, does it make that what Clinton did here is much worse than what Snowden – who didn’t have access to NSAP stuff – has done?

    Colonel Haiku (aacf41)

  29. Hillary could kill and eat a human baby on live tv and still avoid prosecution. The Press would help by saying “he had it coming”.

    dfbaskwill (a0813f)

  30. What difference, at this point, does it make that what Clinton did here is much worse than what Snowden – who didn’t have access to NSAP stuff – has done?

    Colonel Haiku (aacf41) — 1/20/2016 @ 7:04 am

    Plausible deniability leads the admin to “fluff” Snowden offense as cover for Hillary?

    papertiger (c2d6da)

  31. Sure you can call me doc if you want,
    I answered the question in a less than authoritative manner because I am less than an authority 😁

    Yes, entirely possible that there are other dems gleeful at these events
    And in their lairs are saying
    It is as I foresaw…

    Some would say that the rule of law is already gone,
    The question is whether we can get it back,
    And if so, what will it take

    MD in Philly (not in Philly) (deca84)

  32. …. when it comes to classified information there is no super secret Jason Bourne-type classification “beyond” top secret (TS).

    How do you know RS, do you have clearance?

    Rev. Barack Hussein Hoagie™ (f4eb27)

  33. That was not the emoticon I wanted

    MD in Philly (not in Philly) (deca84)

  34. I especially like the bit where the intel IG had to get his clearance level bumped up just to sort through the stuff Hillarity! was having her peons post on the Foreign Hackers’ BBS that was her unsecure private server.

    I’m still of two minds on the actual indictment. Not whether or not it should happen, of course, but whether or not it will. I suppose it all boils down to just how much the Prom Queen really hates Her Majesty, and what he feels would make the best revenge:

    0) I feel obligated to include the option that the FBI won’t recommend an indictment, if only to note that the regularity of the leaks from the investigation puts this somewhere below “unlikely”.

    1) No indictment would basically turn the DoJ into a bad punchline. Not out of the question for King Putt and his minions, but he must be aware that this isn’t something that can be hopenchanged away, and no amount of present-day media fawning would make it any less the defining moment of that Legacy he covets so dearly.

    2) There could be an indictment, followed by a limp-wristed and insincere effort to prosecute. The prosecution’s failure would be telegraphed very blatantly so that Her Majesty came out fully aware that the King’s benevolence was the only reason she was walking free, which would leave a serious mark on her ego, which, of course, would be the whole point.

    3) Indictment and proper prosecution, followed by an exit-pardon next January; after all, the safest time to be a blatantly corrupt Democrat is under the rule of another Democrat. As with option 2, the point of this is to make Team C indelibly aware that they are in Team O’s debt, which will not sit well with them, which, again, would be the whole point.

    4) Indictment and prosecution, followed by an end-of-term press conference where everyone assumes he’ll announce a pardon, but instead he gives her a big flowery “SUCK IT”. The Hildebeest’s hatred will burn with the fury of a thousand suns, as it always has, but this time she may actually throw her couch at the TV in her cushy minimum-security mansion. This strikes me as being a very Middle-School-Mean-Girl thing to do, and thus cannot be discounted simply because of its over-the-top theatricality.

    PCachu (5376c0)

  35. “Sure you can call me doc if you want,”

    You can call him doc
    Or you can call him Ray
    Or you you can call him Jay
    Or you can call him Ray Jay
    But you doesn’t have to call him
    Johnson!

    Colonel Haiku (aacf41)

  36. But you doesn’t have to call him Doc Johnson!

    Rev. Barack Hussein Hoagie™ (f4eb27)

  37. This isn’t actually new news. It’s confirmation that the media reports of multiple cases of TS/SCI and SAP information was found in her emails. How this stuff left the SCIF and into the open is what has to be occupying the investigators’ time.

    There’s a lot more going on here than when GEN P handed over his diary/day planner to his biographer containing some number of notes about classified programs/sources that never should have been walking around with him in the first place. Or when DCI Deutch let his kid use his CIA laptop to IM his friends.

    It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that Clintonmail was the entry point for most if not all the computer intrusions the Feds have been fighting since Hillary became SEC STATE. If so, don’t expect the investigation to end any time soon.

    crazy (cde091)

  38. 28. …Some would say that the rule of law is already gone,
    The question is whether we can get it back,
    And if so, what will it take

    MD in Philly (not in Philly) (deca84) — 1/20/2016 @ 7:25 am

    c

    An excellent question, doc. Can we get it back.

    I’ve been asking that question a lot since those sailors gave up their boat to the Iranians. Indeed, throughout the past seven years of the Obama Preezidency.

    Steve57 (f61b03)

  39. 30. …How do you know RS, do you have clearance?

    Rev. Barack Hussein Hoagie™ (f4eb27) — 1/20/2016 @ 7:35 am

    I lean toward believing the man. Just me.

    Steve57 (f61b03)

  40. That was .33. Not .30.

    Steve57 (f61b03)

  41. Going to see Thirteen Hours, in the parking lot, a guy called out, “You looking for another
    five hundred reasons not to vote for Hillary?” I grinned at him.
    On the way out, I considered that, liberals notwithstanding, there are likely ten million
    guys in this country who’d have bought their own ticket and brought their own ammo if they’d known.
    More, if we made allowances for wheelchairs and walkers and recruited in the assisted living places.
    Then it occurred to me to wonder whether this is being shown in post theaters. And what the reaction
    is.
    HO LEE STUFF.

    Richard Aubrey (472a6f)

  42. A country gives millions of dollars to the Clinton Foundation. Then Clinton puts information classified top secret/sap on her server that the donor nation can hack and obtain. I don’t see any laws broken here.

    Zoltan (c8e27b)


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