# A question about the Hilary Clinton email business. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 26, 2019, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-hilary-clinton-email-business/830229 "2019-02-26T06:36:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Steven\_Estes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Steven\_Estes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_Estes)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-hilary-clinton-email-business/830229/1 "2019-02-26T06:36:10Z")
I understand that what Hilary Clinton did that was undoubtedly wrong was (1) to mix her personal email with her official, sometimes confidential, government email. What I have never understood (though perhaps everyone else does) is whether (2) this was done for some further malicious reason. If (1), then, while unfortunate, this is hardly criminal, since Clinton gained nothing by mixing the emails. If (2), then this is much more serious. If (2), what is it she gained? ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-hilary-clinton-email-business/830229/2 "2019-02-26T06:54:09Z")
As far as I can tell, there are some people who think she did this to dodge FOIA requests because of all the evil she was involved with. ---
**Author:** ![Batano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b487fb/32.png) [@Batano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batano)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-hilary-clinton-email-business/830229/3 "2019-02-26T08:57:38Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > As far as I can tell, there are some people who think she did this to dodge FOIA requests because of all the evil she was involved with. Dodging the FOIA is the most likely nefarious reason. Even if you are not involved with “evils” I can see how the FOIA would be a pain. I have a friend who gave a bad recommendation about someone and it was later released via the FOIA. It made it all very awkward, even though the person he wrote abut was an incompetent buffoon. But it is also a convenience thing: having one email address makes everything easier. It’s not like she hid it, she sent emails to government officials from that account. If you want to hide stuff there are much better ways. Beyond that, anything sent over the Internet unencrypted is not secure. It doesn’t matter if it is sent from a government server, an email service like gmail, or your own private server. Once it hits the Internet it is unsecure. Really classified stiff is sent via other means. The classified emails the FBI found are things like her daily agendas or travel arrangements. Stupid, but not treasonous. Powell used AOL, which is worse than a private server as anyone at AOL with admin privileges could probably access his emails. Tech companies employ tons of foreign nationals and easily blackmailed nerds. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-hilary-clinton-email-business/830229/4 "2019-02-26T10:54:20Z")
I am afraid that the _correct_ answer might be considered a hijack in GQ, so I’ll just give a hint: Google “Why Did Vince Foster Shoot Himself Three Times in the Back of the Head?” ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-hilary-clinton-email-business/830229/5 "2019-02-26T11:45:36Z")
I’m baffled by this. I have a personal email account and a business email account but I often use my business email account for personal things because the personal stuff is fairly innocuous (emailing my daughter’s school, for example) and I need to do it during business hours and see the responses as they pop up rather than having to constantly check my personal email inbox on my phone. Is this not a thing other people do? I mean, I’m not watching porn or downloading movies on my work account, but when you’re busy it’s easier to just use the email account in front of you, and far better to use the business email account for the occasional personal email (within reason) than the other way around. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-hilary-clinton-email-business/830229/6 "2019-02-26T11:55:54Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I’m baffled by this… > … when you’re busy it’s easier to just use the email account in front of you, and far better to use the business email account for the occasional personal email (within reason) than the other way around. I’m not sure what your point is — it almost looks like you’ve twisted things around and would be happier to defend the Secretary had she used her business email for personal matters than vice versa — but you should know that using business e-mail for personal matters is not recommended for several reasons, and may be contrary to your company’s policies. IANAL but I think use of a government email address for personal business may even be illegal. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-hilary-clinton-email-business/830229/7 "2019-02-26T11:57:14Z")
This was very thoroughly covered during the 2016 campaign. Clinton, like many of our senior relatives, is not comfortable with constantly changing technology, and her prime concern was that (1) she refused to use multiple smartphones/devices and (2) she would not give up her ancient Blackberry. Her staff has to troll eBay and other second-hand sources to ensure there is a steady supply of the Blackberry model she likes. When she became Secretary of State and was being pressured to accept a second phone by security staff for official use, she even asked Colin Powell what to do. His advice to her, essentially, was, don’t let yourself get caught up in staff demands. You’re the secretary, tell them what you want based on your own convenience and let them deal with it. Your time is too valuable to spend serving the needs of technology instead of Vice versa. Given that we now has a president (and staff) who uses whatever devices and email accounts whenever he wants, this shouldn’t be an eternal mystery any more. I seem to recall that The bush-Cheney administration also used private e-mail accounts extensively. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-hilary-clinton-email-business/830229/8 "2019-02-26T12:52:42Z")
[Moderating] And just what was the factual question here supposed to be? Off to Great Debates. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-hilary-clinton-email-business/830229/9 "2019-02-26T13:21:32Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > As far as I can tell, there are some people who think she did this to dodge FOIA requests because of all the evil she was involved with. The thing is, and someone can correct me if I’m wrong, but there’s no subpoena power behind a FOIA request. Clinton could have kept all of her nefarious stuff on a government email server, and if she didn’t want to release it during a FOIA request she could just have responded to the request saying, “Sorry, we don’t have anything like that.” If whoever made the request thought she was lying they’d have to sue and hope to get access to her emails during discovery, which is exactly the same process regardless of where they’re stored. The only substantive difference is that in the case of that hypothetical lawsuit, it’d be easier to delete all the evidence off a server if the techs worked for Clinton versus working for the state department, but that’s a pretty narrow advantage. It also presupposes that Clinton would be willing to break the law by lying in response to FOIA requests and potentially deleting evidence during a lawsuit, but still for some reason to conduct criminal activity via regular email. Doesn’t make a lot of sense. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-hilary-clinton-email-business/830229/10 "2019-02-26T13:29:58Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > I am afraid that the _correct_ answer might be considered a hijack in GQ, so I’ll just give a hint: Google “Why Did Vince Foster Shoot Himself Three Times in the Back of the Head?” OMG-Really?? Why has no one ever brought this up before? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-hilary-clinton-email-business/830229/11 "2019-02-26T13:37:36Z")
> [@Steven Estes](#): > > …what is it she gained? A solidified reputation as another Clinton who thinks the rules don’t apply to her. Apart from “nefarious intent”, it’s part of a longstanding pattern of behavior. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-hilary-clinton-email-business/830229/12 "2019-02-26T13:57:50Z")
It’s perhaps worth noting that her personal e-mail server was more secure than the official one she was supposed to be using: That one got hacked, but her personal server didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-hilary-clinton-email-business/830229/13 "2019-02-26T14:07:23Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > I am afraid that the _correct_ answer might be considered a hijack in GQ, so I’ll just give a hint: Google “Why Did Vince Foster Shoot Himself Three Times in the Back of the Head?” Do you have a cite that he was shot in the back of the head? Or three times? I always heard that the conspiracy theories centered around the missing exit wound, because the bullet went in from the mouth. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-hilary-clinton-email-business/830229/14 "2019-02-26T14:12:00Z")
Note, those conspiracy theories are whackadoodledoo as well, but at least they kinda fit the facts, if you squint – unlike the idea that he was shot 3 times, and in the back of the head. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-hilary-clinton-email-business/830229/15 "2019-02-26T14:43:03Z")
> [@Batano](#): > > Beyond that, anything sent over the Internet unencrypted is not secure. It doesn’t matter if it is sent from a government server, an email service like gmail, or your own private server. Once it hits the Internet it is unsecure. Not true, there’s TLS transport layer encryption (very common, I help folks troubleshoot it for a living), and competing methods of further encrypting the content of the message. Most email servers will accept an unencrypted session, but fewer and fewer are. Seeing it required on government servers is very common these days. Now, of course, “secure” isn’t synonymous with “nobody else can read it, ever”, but it’s not all being transmitted in base64 encoded clear text, either. > [@Chronos](#): > > It’s perhaps worth noting that her personal e-mail server was more secure than the official one she was supposed to be using: That one got hacked, but her personal server didn’t. Yeah, that’s the kind of screwed up part of this whole affair. I think Powell was foolish to advise Clinton to not listen to the experts on the security of her devices, and she was foolish not to listen, but it wouldn’t have done her too much good to listen to them in this case. ---
**Author:** ![nate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nate/32/13085_2.png) [@nate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nate)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-hilary-clinton-email-business/830229/16 "2019-02-26T15:26:21Z")
I still can’t get past the apparent fact that she was SoS for 6 years, sending 100s of thousands of e-mails, and no one said anything about her using her own e-mail server. If this was such a big deal, why didn’t someone bring it up then? ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-hilary-clinton-email-business/830229/17 "2019-02-26T15:39:32Z")
I’ve said it before, but as a longtime fed, every year I have to sign an acknowledgement of our Agency’s electronics/data/records policies. What she did is blatantly prohibited by any conceivable interpretation of the clear policies I’ve seen. I cannot imagine that State is greatly more lax in such things than my Agency. I don’t even need to get to the question of whether she had any malicious motives. For me, it is sufficient (and cumulative evidence) that she did not believe the rules applied to her. NOTE: my feelings did not interfere with my strong support for her candidacy. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-hilary-clinton-email-business/830229/18 "2019-02-26T15:40:01Z")
> [@nate](#): > > I still can’t get past the apparent fact that she was SoS for 6 years, sending 100s of thousands of e-mails, and no one said anything about her using her own e-mail server. If this was such a big deal, why didn’t someone bring it up then? Answer: it wasn’t such a big deal, until it could be used to discredit her politically. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-hilary-clinton-email-business/830229/19 "2019-02-26T15:48:43Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I’ve said it before, but as a longtime fed, every year I have to sign an acknowledgement of our Agency’s electronics/data/records policies. What she did is blatantly prohibited by any conceivable interpretation of the clear policies I’ve seen. I cannot imagine that State is greatly more lax in such things than my Agency… While I don’t disagree, it’s my understanding that appointees are often not held to exactly the same standards as employees. I recall the suggestion that SecState was not (by tradition, at least) bound to the same policies. Certainly her predecessors did much the same (and I wouldn’t describe Colin Powell as one who thought rules _generally_ did not apply to him). ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-hilary-clinton-email-business/830229/20 "2019-02-26T16:10:34Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Do you have a cite that he was shot in the back of the head? Or three times? I always heard that the conspiracy theories centered around the missing exit wound, because the bullet went in from the mouth. I am also skeptical of the theory that Foster committed suicide by shooting himself in the back of the head three times. The suggested search term, however, will lead to a variety of hits _ **that will help OP gain insight into the nature of the charges against Secretary Clinton** _. The first one following is from the _Washington Post_. > [@](#): > > The real estate mogul has said in recent interviews that a range of Clinton-related controversies will be at the center of his case against Hillary Clinton. “They said things about me which were very nasty. And I don’t want to play that game at all. I don’t want to play it at all. But they said things about me that were very nasty,” Trump told The Washington Post in an interview. “And, you know, as long as they do that, you know, I will play at whatever level I have to play at. I think I’ve proven that.” > … > In one recent interview, Trump said another topic of potential concern is the suicide of former White House aide Vincent Foster, which remains the focus of intense and far-fetched conspiracy theories on the Internet. “It’s the one thing with her, whether it’s Whitewater or whether it’s Vince or whether it’s Benghazi. It’s always a mess with Hillary,” Trump said in the interview. > Donald Trump told supporters in Spokane, Washington on Saturday, May 7 that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was an “enabler” for what he said was her husband, President Bill Clinton’s, mistreatment of women. “The Clintons collectively have dodged many, many, many bullets. So much that was suppressed [by the media] is going to get re-analyzed. So many of the things that they slipped by on will get reexamined,” Trump confidant Roger Stone said Monday. “That’s something they should have counted on before getting into the race.” > At the same time, Trump has often dismissed scrutiny of his own behavior, including his questionable treatment of women, which served as tabloid fodder in New York City in the 1980s and 1990s. He has regularly criticized the media for reporting on events from decades ago. “When was this? Twenty-five years ago? Wow, you mean you’re going so low as to talk about something that took place 25 years ago,” Trump said earlier this month when asked about pretending to be his own publicist in the 1990s. [Donald Trump masqueraded as his own publicist to brag about himself] > The video that Trump published Monday on Instagram and blasted out to his 8 million Twitter followers marked a stark turn in a campaign that has already been particularly nasty… Democratic-aligned groups called Trump’s attacks a distraction from his own record. “Donald Trump is a known misogynist who tears down women for fun. His credibility among women is shrinking by the day, and playing `gender card’ politics isn’t helping either,” said Marcy Stech, vice president of communications at Emily’s List. “It’s these types of attacks that only draw more attention from Trump’s extreme and hateful worldview toward women.” > … > One issue on Trump’s radar is the 1993 death of Foster, which has been ruled a suicide by law enforcement officials and a subsequent federal investigation. But some voices on the far right have long argued that the Clintons may have been involved in a conspiracy that led to Foster’s death. When asked in an interview last week about the Foster case, Trump dealt with it as he has with many edgy topics raising doubts about the official version of events even as he says he does not plan to talk about it on the campaign trail. He called theories of possible foul play “very serious” and the circumstances of Foster’s death “very fishy.” “He had intimate knowledge of what was going on,” Trump said, speaking of Foster’s relationship with the Clintons at the time. “He knew everything that was going on, and then all of a sudden he committed suicide.” He added, “I don’t bring [Foster’s death] up because I don’t know enough to really discuss it. I will say there are people who continue to bring it up because they think it was absolutely a murder. I don’t do that because I don’t think it’s fair.” > [@](#): > > In a 1994 letter to congressional leaders, former Rep. William Dannemeyer listed 24 people with some connection to Clinton who had died “under other than natural circumstances” and called for hearings on the matter. > > Dannemeyer’s list of “suspicious deaths” was largely taken from one compiled by Linda Thompson, an Indianapolis lawyer who in 1993 quit her year-old general practice to run her American Justice Federation, a for-profit group that promotes pro-gun causes and various conspiracy theories through a shortwave radio program, a computer bulletin board, and sales of its newsletter and videos. > > Her list, called “The Clinton Body Count: Coincidence or the Kiss of Death?” then contained the names of 34 people she believed had died suspiciously and who had ties to the Clinton family. Thompson admitted she had “no direct evidence” of Clinton’s killing anyone. Indeed, she said the deaths were probably caused by “people trying to control the President” but refused to say who they were. Thompson said her allegations of murder “seem groundless only because the mainstream media haven’t done enough digging.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-hilary-clinton-email-business/830229.md?page=2)