2016 elections - because it's never too early

[Sheilbh]

In theory yes but is it a distinction with a difference?  It depends on how long a web-based email company would keep deleted emails in an accessible way.

That's true, but surely the practical effect is that all of that decision is in the hands of the public employee. There's no possibility of back up of what they don't want backed up.

[garbon]

So is the contention that she did all this and has successfully hid something nefarious or is it just the principle of it?

[Jacob]

So is the contention that she did all this and has successfully hid something nefarious or is it just the principle of it?

Seems to me it's a combination of "the principle" and "who knows what we'll find?!?"

[Barrister]

So is the contention that she did all this and has successfully hid something nefarious or is it just the principle of it?

More of a "if she went through all this effort to hide her emails there must be something worth hiding in there".

[Admiral Yi]

So is the contention that she did all this and has successfully hid something nefarious or is it just the principle of it?

My contention is she did exactly the same thing as a person who has a lot to hide would have done.

How in the fuck did she think deleting the emails would be a good idea?

[garbon]

So is the contention that she did all this and has successfully hid something nefarious or is it just the principle of it?

More of a "if she went through all this effort to hide her emails there must be something worth hiding in there".

Does it take that much effort when you have minions to do things for you?

[Jacob]

So is the contention that she did all this and has successfully hid something nefarious or is it just the principle of it?

My contention is she did exactly the same thing as a person who has a lot to hide would have done.

How in the fuck did she think deleting the emails would be a good idea?

Perhaps she thought "all these emails about Chelsea's wedding etc are nobody's business, so I'll just delete them"?

In other words, she thought of her personal email account as personal - and felt free to delete personal emails - and then occasionally used it for business stuff because it was convenient - without giving any thought to that reflecting on her personal emails.

Alternately, of course, she was doing all sorts of nefarious things - like covering up Benghazi - and then deleted them and pretended they were personal emails about Chelsea's wedding etc.

[Admiral Yi]

In other words, she thought of her personal email account as personal - and felt free to delete personal emails - and then occasionally used it for business stuff because it was convenient - without giving any thought to that reflecting on her personal emails.

She has already handed over 55,000 pages of documents from that account that were not personal.

[Jacob]

In other words, she thought of her personal email account as personal - and felt free to delete personal emails - and then occasionally used it for business stuff because it was convenient - without giving any thought to that reflecting on her personal emails.

She has already handed over 55,000 pages of documents from that account that were not personal.

Okay. She frequently used it for business emails.

My point was she didn't consider how the official use would reflect on her genuinely private emails, so she deleted them because they were in fact personal in nature and she did not mentally file them under "official, do not delete."

It's just a guess, of course. I don't know.

[Sheilbh]

In other words, she thought of her personal email account as personal - and felt free to delete personal emails - and then occasionally used it for business stuff because it was convenient - without giving any thought to that reflecting on her personal emails.

Alternately, of course, she was doing all sorts of nefarious things - like covering up Benghazi - and then deleted them and pretended they were personal emails about Chelsea's wedding etc.

It was roughly 50-50 apparently. There's still 30k official emails and she deleted 31k that were solely private.

As I say in my view the issues are transparency and security rather than that there's anything necessarily nefarious. In a more general sense I don't think public servants (or frankly, private employees) should get to configure their own email accounts (so they can properly delete messages), keep their own servers in their homes or just say they'll actually just have the one Blackberry.

The political problem is, as CdM, says it's a reminder of the bad old days of the rules not applying to the Clinton's - and I'm sure we've heard 'trust me' from them before - and, in my view, that she couldn't answer even mildly difficult questions convincingly. As far as scandals go appearance matters as much as facts.

[Valmy]

Clinton's stint as Secretary of State is not making her look ready for the highest office IMO.  I hope the Democrats look elsewhere.

[CountDeMoney]

The political problem is, as CdM, says it's a reminder of the bad old days of the rules not applying to the Clinton's - and I'm sure we've heard 'trust me' from them before - and, in my view, that she couldn't answer even mildly difficult questions convincingly. As far as scandals go appearance matters as much as facts.

She's not Bill;  she doesn't do the politician thing very well, never has.  Where Bill could come across as folksy and charismatic (hands together as if in prayer!), even demonstrating strength in contrition (lower lip bite in perseverance!), she comes across as snappish and defensive.  She's not the natural-born politician he is, and that's never been her role.  That makes this messier than it should be, or even is.

[CountDeMoney]

Clinton's stint as Secretary of State is not making her look ready for the highest office IMO.  I hope the Democrats look elsewhere.

How was her stint as Secretary of State a failure?

[Razgovory]

So is the contention that she did all this and has successfully hid something nefarious or is it just the principle of it?

My contention is she did exactly the same thing as a person who has a lot to hide would have done.

How in the fuck did she think deleting the emails would be a good idea?

What do you think she is hiding.

[Valmy]

How was her stint as Secretary of State a failure?

You just spelled it out above.