Why The Clinton Email Scandal Is Not Just A Right Wing Creation
FEATURING
RAY MCGOVERN – A new report by the State Department’s Office of
the Inspector General, has found that Presidential candidate Hillary
Clinton had not obtained permission to use a private email server
during her tenure as President Obama’s Secretary of State. The OIG
report added that she would not have been given permission even if
she had asked, and that she, “had an obligation to discuss using
her personal email account to conduct official business.”
The
Republican Party has long fixated on the so-called “email scandal”
as a way to undermine Clinton’s suitability for the nation’s
highest office. And, Democratic party members including President
Obama have brushed off the issue, relegating it to “carelessness.”
Even Clinton’s political rival, Bernie Sanders has dismissed the
controversy. So, should progressives as a whole also dismiss it?
Clinton
holds big lead over Sanders in California a week before primary -
poll
RT,
30
May, 2016
In
California, site of a major June 7 presidential primary contest,
Hillary Clinton is leading rival candidate Bernie Sanders by 13
points, according to a new poll. She also got the support of the
Golden State's governor.
Clinton
took in 51 percent support while Sanders, buoyed by a surge in
primary wins of late despite Clinton's formidable delegate lead,
received 38 percent in a new Hoover Institution Golden State poll.
Ahead
of the California primary, Clinton stands just 73 Democratic Party
delegates away from the number necessary for the party's nomination
— though pledged superdelegates, who are not related to primary
votes, could hypothetically switch allegiance between now and the
Democratic Party's national convention in late July.
Of
a total 712 superdelegates, Clinton has 541 while Sanders has 43. Of
a total 4,051 delegates, which are earned through primary votes
across the nation, Clinton has 1,769 and Sanders has 1,499. A win in
California's primary would deliver 475 delegates, partially
apportioned by whichever candidate wins in each of the state's
congressional districts.
The
Hoover poll found that while Clinton has a 13-point lead over Sanders
in California, Sanders has a massive 31-point edge with primary
voters under the age of 30. Among voters who described themselves as
having "no party preference," Sanders leads Clinton by 40
points. To justify his ongoing presence in the Democratic race
despite trailing Clinton this late in the primary season, Sanders'
campaign has pointed to these types of disparities in polling among
young and independent voters, as well as other polling that has
suggested Sanders does much better than Clinton in a head-to-head
matchup with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
"In
virtually every state and national poll, we do much better than Trump
than Secretary Clinton does," Sanders said Monday at a rally in
Oakland.
The
Hoover poll, conducted from early- to mid-May, found that Clinton
would best Trump in a general election contest, leading the
billionaire real-estate mogul 45 to 33 percent. The survey did not
report figures for a potential matchup between Sanders and Trump.
Prior
to the June 7 primary, Sanders has focused on the California's Bay
Area, a region heavy on Democratic and left-leaning voters in the
vast, politically-diverse state. On Monday, Sanders was in Oakland
for a 20,000-person rally at the city's Frank Ogawa Plaza before
attending a NBA playoff game between the Golden State Warriors and
the Oklahoma City Thunder.
It’s coming down to the wire! Excited to see how this one ends.
Prior
to the rally, Sanders also spoke to about 200 people at Allen Temple
Baptist, an influential black church in Oakland. With a consistent
populist, anti-poverty tone in his campaign, Sanders has sought to
boost his appeal among the working class and people of color,
especially in a diverse state like California. Sanders' rallies in
the state last week were held in places like Bakersfield and Pomona,
two cities with populations that are heavily Latino and working
class.
We must end inhumane deportation programs and racial profiling that have turned local law enforcement officials into immigration officers.
On
Tuesday, Sanders will appear in Emeryville, California, for a
conference on healthcare, before heading to rallies in Santa Cruz and
Monterey. On Wednesday, Sanders will continue rallying supporters in
the Bay Area, appearing in Palo Alto and Davis.
In
the coming days, Clinton, who on Monday picked up the endorsement of
California Governor Jerry Brown, will appear at fundraisers in New
York and New Jersey before heading to campaign in California later in
the week.
Voters
in California had to register by May 23 to participate in the
primary.
US
Thinks Hillary Clinton is Guilty, But Felony Charges Shouldn’t Stop
Her
30
May, 2016
A
recent survey of 1,000 “likely” voters revealed that half of the
participants would want Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton to
continue her presidential campaign should she be indicted for using
an unsecured private email server to transmit confidential
information.
The
survey, conducted by Pulse Opinion Research for Rasmussen on May 29
and 30 asked, "If Hillary Clinton is charged with a felony in
connection with the e-mail investigation, should she immediately stop
campaigning or should she continue running until a court determines
her guilt or innocence?" Of those surveyed, 43% suggest the
former first lady should end her campaign immediately if charged,
with 50% saying she should continue until a court decision is made on
the matter.
Clinton’s
email troubles began a year ago, after it was revealed that
classified material had passed through a private email server at the
Clinton home in Chappaqua, New York. The server was used by former
President Bill Clinton for personal communication and to conduct
Clinton Foundation business. There have been questions about the
nature of Clinton’s emails and whether any sensitive information
was compromised.
A
44-year-old Romanian hacker named Marcel Lehel Lazar, known online as
Guccifer, claimed that he gained access to the Clinton’s email
server but found nothing interesting, saying, "It was not what I
was looking for, it was boring stuff." Representatives for the
Clinton campaign have denied Lazar’s claims.
Hacker
'Guccifer' Claims He Easily Accessed Hillary Clinton’s Email Server
Just
8% of those polled say they are more likely to vote for the former
Secretary of State because of the scandal. Of voters surveyed, some
40% say they are less likely to vote for Clinton due to the issue,
and 48% say the emails will have no bearing on their decision to vote
for her.
Of
independent voters, 46% who participated said they believe Clinton
should keep running, with 30% of Republicans and 71% of Democrats
feeling the same way.
The
Office of the Inspector General (OIG), a watchdog group for the State
Department, released a report last week criticizing Clinton’s
digital conduct, and claiming a breach in federal regulations,
saying, "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," before adding, "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."
The
OIG’s report also placed some of the blame on the State
Department’s failure to update its systems and procedures in
handling classified documents, stating, "Longstanding, systemic
weaknesses related to electronic records and communications have
existed within the Office of the Secretary that go well beyond the
tenure of any one Secretary of State. OIG recognizes that technology
and Department policy have evolved considerably since Secretary
Albright’s tenure began in 1997. Nevertheless, the Department
generally and the Office of the Secretary in particular have been
slow to recognize and to manage effectively the legal requirements
and cybersecurity risks associated with electronic data
communications, particularly as those risks pertain to its most
senior leadership."
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