The Clinton Email Scandal Explained

The Clinton Email Scandal Explained

Nora Thompson, Cougart Editor

By now you’ve probably heard about the infamous “Email Scandal” concerning presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. How could you not, considering it’s been plastered across the entirety of the media, not to mention it’s on the lips of republican candidate Donald Trump every time the two of them are in the same room. A case can be made that the media does its share of vilifying both candidates equally.

After President Obama selected Clinton as the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton began receiving classified documents that would be considered threats to national security if terrorists or anyone who was aiming to harm the United States found them through her email, which went through a server located in her basement and an email address that wasn’t a “.gov” (the domain that White House officials are supposed to use).

During the Benghazi hearings, the New York Times published an article about the use of the private email server and how the emails weren’t being saved or recorded. After the scandal broke, the American people believed she was guilty of violating: Federal Records Act (which prevents the deletion of official communication) Freedom Of Information Act (which makes things like the emails available for the public to see) the NARA regulations (Dictates how articles must be kept and maintained) and Section 1924 of Title 18 (addresses the deletion of important documents).

Even after all of that, the FBI director, James B. Comey, said, “Although we did not find clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information, there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information.” But, he ended the statement with “no charges are appropriate in this case.”

Politics aside, Clinton is a grandmother at 68.  She still has the energy to run a campaign, but she was not born into a generation that was afforded the technological advances that we have. She could not use a desktop computer and chose to carry around an iPad mini an iPhone and a blackberry. Clinton herself said that the lackadaisical security regulations and the vulnerability were acts of convenience rather than a vindictive plot.

Whether you believe Hillary Clinton is the worst, most corrupt candidate America has ever seen, or you think that she got caught in a media storm and was wrongly vilified, the most important thing you can do is vote. Getting out there and voicing your opinion is the only way that the country can enact any change.