State Dept. IG Raps Clinton.com's Knuckles

Well, the State Department Inspector Gadget General's report on Hillary's email shenanigans is in, and to say it is not flattering to her majesty is to understate it somewhat: The State Department’s Top Cop Imperils Hillary Clinton’s Campaign

In a pre-release copy of a report on Hillary Cinton’s failure to obey federal record-keeping laws, which Politico obtained, the State Department’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) delivers an 83-page doozy.

The State Department inspector general’s office concluded that the former Secretary of State violated legally-mandated record keeping requirements. Quote: “Secretary Clinton should have preserved any federal records she created and received on her personal account by printing and filing those records with the related files in the Office of the Secretary. At a minimum, Secretary Clinton should have surrendered all emails dealing with Department business before leaving government service and, because she did not do so, she did not comply with the department’s policies that were implemented in accordance with the Federal Records Act.” (That’s on document page 23, page 26 of the pdf. Check it out.)

Bureaucratese riddles that last sentence, but the message is clear: she broke the law. Hillary Clinton has indeed done something wrong—her claims of innocence to the contrary.

From across the pond at the Daily Mail, they're not as polite:  Hillary Clinton clobbered by State Department audit: Report finds she kept hacker attacks on her server SECRET, failed to hand over emails – and top aide Huma 'stonewalled' inspector general.

Ace boils it down to bullet points: IG Report Damns Hillary Clinton and Her Corrupt Staff

Major takeaways:

* Her private email account and server broke the rules, and those rules were promulgated to give specifics to the law. As Rush Limbaugh was just saying, this is a piecemeal way of getting at "she broke the law."

* She compromised national security recklessly. Her emails document two "attacks" on her unsecure server.

* Of her 26 aides, only five answered the IG's questionnaire. Among the criminals refusing to answer questions (who else but criminals tell the cops to go hang?) are Jake Sullivan, Cheryl Mills, Human "Muslim Brotherhood" Abedin, and of course Hillary Clinton.

* She said she turned over all work related emails and merely destroyed her "yoga routines." She lied. The IG found work emails she did not turn over -- these emails found by other means (such as searching other people's emails).

Ergo, Hillary did not turn over her emails as the law requires, nor did she maintain them, as the law requires. Instead, she destroyed official government records -- illegally.

Her response? It's a Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, of course:

Oh what the hell, a few more links. Town Hall: Inspector General Finds Hillary Clinton Violated Federal Records Act By Deleting Emails, and HotAir: State Dept. IG: Clinton violated rules with private server, did not cooperate with investigation (Update)

Some of the more interesting facts to emerge are that Hillary Clinton Failed to Report Multiple Hacking Attempts -- Illegally, Of Course, and the State Department can't swear they didn't succeed,  that Hillary Clinton expressed worries about exposure of personal emails at State Dept. (goes to motive), and that State staffers who raised concerns about Clinton’s email were told never to mention it again

Thanks to Wombat-sochos "In the Mailbox: 05.25.15" for a link to the almost always sensible Megan McArdle take on the affair: Clinton's E-Mail Shenanigans Sure Don't Look Like an Honest Mistake, achieving what I thought was impossible, a sentence with both "Clinton" and "honest":

It lays to rest the longtime Clinton defense that this use of a private server was somehow normal and allowed by government rules: It was not normal, and was not allowed by the government rules in place at the time “The Department’s current policy, implemented in 2005, is that normal day-to-day operations should be conducted on an authorized Automated Information System (AIS), which “has the proper level of security control to … ensure confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the resident information.”

It also shreds the defense that “Well, Colin Powell did it too” into very fine dust, and then neatly disposes of the dust. As the report makes very clear, there are substantial differences between what Powell did and what Clinton did . . .

The Washington Post lays into her for making them look like liars, but ultimately let's her off the hook: Clinton’s inexcusable, willful disregard for the rules

The department’s email technology was archaic. Other staffers also used personal email, as did Secretary Colin Powell (2001-2005), without preserving the records. But there is no excuse for the way Ms. Clinton breezed through all the warnings and notifications. While not illegal behavior, it was disturbingly unmindful of the rules. In the middle of the presidential campaign, we urge the FBI to finish its own investigation soon, so all information about this troubling episode will be before the voters.

As others have noted, those rules that she very mindfully broke were the State Department's implementation of security laws and for the Post to claim it was not illegal behavior is to declare her innocent before the FBI criminal investigation they claim to want is complete.

Ann Althouse catches Matt Yglesias making excuses for Hillary. Matt Yglesias explains Hillary Clinton's mindset — it all goes back to Vince Foster.

Most transparent whatever ever: Hillary Clinton aide moves to block release of deposition video Cheryl Mills probably knows enough not to lie under oath, but she'll be damned if she'll let the truth out that easily.

In the matter of the FBI investigation into Clinton henchperson and Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe's campaign funding CNBC’s Harwood Labels Clinton Friend/VA Gov. McAuliffe a Republican Under FBI Investigation It was probably just an honest mistake; they try to avoid partisan labels in democratic scandals. McAuliffe, still reeling, slams DOJ 'leak' of campaign probe. Meanwhile, details continue to ooze out: Inquiry Highlights Terry McAuliffe’s Ties to Chinese Company and Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe Invited Chinese Donor to Hillary Clinton’s Home. Because there's not enough money in the United States for these crooks.

In another media mistake that didn't favor the Clintons, MSNBC’s Kornacki Mixes Up Bill Cosby with Bill Clinton During Sex Assault Report. Better put some ice on that.

Pravda The New York Times wonders how Hillary can Solve a Problem Like Trump?. Roger Simor counters Desperate Establishment Seeks to Resurrect Hillary. It's a tough sell, but they'll keep after it.

Hillary Clinton: 'You're fired' won't work in the White House Why, yes, I believe it will, but I'd prefer to keep you out of it first.

You tell him, Grandpa! Bill Clinton Gets Into 30-Minute Debate With A 24-Year-Old Bernie Fan.

Forewarned is forearmed: Trump spokesman accidentally e-mails Politico reporter about dirt on Hillary and Whitewater Not to worry, there's plenty more where that came from.