# Hillary Clinton - Who makes the Decision to prosecute? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 26, 2016, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-who-makes-the-decision-to-prosecute/750240 "2016-03-26T14:38:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Clu-Me-In](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@Clu-Me-In](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clu-Me-In)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-who-makes-the-decision-to-prosecute/750240/1 "2016-03-26T14:38:58Z")
Who would make the decision to prosecute or not Prosecute Hillary Clinton regarding the Email Server situation? ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-who-makes-the-decision-to-prosecute/750240/2 "2016-03-26T15:15:49Z")
Prosecute for what? Exactly what law or laws did she break? Please be specific. ---
**Author:** ![Clu-Me-In](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@Clu-Me-In](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clu-Me-In)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-who-makes-the-decision-to-prosecute/750240/3 "2016-03-26T15:19:14Z")
> [@MindsEye\_Watering](#): > > Prosecute for what? Exactly what law or laws did she break? > Please be specific. Exposing national security to prying eyes. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-who-makes-the-decision-to-prosecute/750240/4 "2016-03-26T15:26:47Z")
The prying eyes being … the latest House Benghazi Committee? ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-who-makes-the-decision-to-prosecute/750240/5 "2016-03-26T15:30:34Z")
> [@Clu-Me-In](#): > > Exposing national security to prying eyes. She did? Wow. I suppose the FBI and the Justice Department would be involved. Shouldn’t be too hard to get her arrested and convicted then. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-who-makes-the-decision-to-prosecute/750240/6 "2016-03-26T15:31:19Z")
> [@Clu-Me-In](#): > > Exposing national security to prying eyes. That’s not a defined crime. It might be words that describe a criminal act, but it might not. This is why you were asked for a specific crime. To answer your question, it depends on what the crime is. If you are thinking of a state crime, then the local prosecutor would decide to either file charges via a prosecutor’s information, or to present the charges to a state grand jury, depending on the state and the underlying offense. If the crime is a federal one, then a grand jury is mandatory. The local United States Attorney can present the matter to a sitting federal grand jury and, if they return an indictment, the prosecution is underway. From a political standpoint, this decision might be influenced by higher-ups in the Justice Department or the White House. But as you can see, there is kind of a critical piece of the puzzle missing: the identification of an actual criminal statute and the evidence that supports probable cause to believe she violated it. ---
**Author:** ![Clu-Me-In](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@Clu-Me-In](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clu-Me-In)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-who-makes-the-decision-to-prosecute/750240/7 "2016-03-26T15:36:44Z")
They will soon, but that wasn’t my question. ---
**Author:** ![txst16](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ed655f/32.png) [@txst16](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/txst16)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-who-makes-the-decision-to-prosecute/750240/8 "2016-03-26T15:39:16Z")
> [@Clu-Me-In](#): > > Who would make the decision to prosecute or not Prosecute Hillary Clinton regarding the Email Server situation? The collection agency, working for some “trendy” new financial service, charging her for royalties to this painfully dull publicity (that; according to online polls of the delegate/super-delegat voting, isn’t hurting her campaign) will somehow create an escapade, involving foreign national leaders that will eventually elect someone to take on this role. Either that or Monica Lewinsky. I vote Monica. \>\> Really, no one. Presidential candidates are rarely prosecuted for scandals. Nixon resigned and walked away from around 69 of his administration officials that were indicted. ---
**Author:** ![Clu-Me-In](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@Clu-Me-In](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clu-Me-In)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-who-makes-the-decision-to-prosecute/750240/9 "2016-03-26T15:41:13Z")
Violation of The 2009 Federal Records Act — Section 1236.22 of the 2009 National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) requirements states that: “Agencies that allow employees to send and receive official electronic mail messages using a system not operated by the agency must ensure that Federal records sent or received on such systems are preserved in the appropriate agency record keeping system.” Mishandling Classified Information - Executive Order 13526 and 18 U.S.C Sec. 793(f) of the federal code make it unlawful to send of store classified information on personal email. ---
**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:** [March 26, 2016, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-who-makes-the-decision-to-prosecute/750240/10 "2016-03-26T15:41:45Z")
> [@Clu-Me-In](#): > > They will soon, but that wasn’t my question. That is because you didn’t describe the actual crime “they” would charge her with. ---
**Author:** ![Clu-Me-In](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@Clu-Me-In](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clu-Me-In)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-who-makes-the-decision-to-prosecute/750240/11 "2016-03-26T15:45:09Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > That is because you didn’t describe the actual crime “they” would charge her with. I ain’t a lawyer… she’s dirty and needs to make way for Bernie. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-who-makes-the-decision-to-prosecute/750240/12 "2016-03-26T15:46:03Z")
If one has a security clearance and breeches classified information, is that a crime? If not a crime, then what are the consequences? Losing that clearance? Reprimand? What? ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-who-makes-the-decision-to-prosecute/750240/13 "2016-03-26T16:00:06Z")
Good question. Well, let’s see. What punishment did Condoleza Rice and Colin Powell receive for doing the same thing Clinton did? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-who-makes-the-decision-to-prosecute/750240/14 "2016-03-26T16:06:09Z")
> [@Clu-Me-In](#): > > I ain’t a lawyer… she’s dirty and needs to make way for Bernie. **Bricker** had answered the question you posed in the OP. I would just add that laying charges solely for a political purpose, to get a political opponent “out of the way” as you have now suggested, is contrary to a prosecutor’s duty and would be a misuse of the prosecutorial power. More than that is GD territory. ---
**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:** [March 26, 2016, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-who-makes-the-decision-to-prosecute/750240/15 "2016-03-26T16:12:17Z")
> [@Clu-Me-In](#): > > They will soon… What do you mean by this? ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-who-makes-the-decision-to-prosecute/750240/16 "2016-03-26T16:26:30Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Good question. Well, let’s see. What punishment did Condoleza Rice and Colin Powell receive for doing the same thing Clinton did? You tell me. What was it? ETA: And what did they do? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-who-makes-the-decision-to-prosecute/750240/17 "2016-03-26T17:21:28Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > You tell me. What was it? > > ETA: And what did they do? Used a private email server as SecState. Both of them. And just about every other SecState after email became an indispensable communications tool. (Hint: This didn’t become illegal until after Clinton was already out of the office.) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-who-makes-the-decision-to-prosecute/750240/18 "2016-03-26T17:34:32Z")
> [@Clu-Me-In](#): > > I ain’t a lawyer… she’s dirty and needs to make way for Bernie. **Moderator Warning** **Clu-Me-In** , you’ve been a member long enough to know that political jabs are not permitted in General Questions. This is an official warning. Do not do this again. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-who-makes-the-decision-to-prosecute/750240/19 "2016-03-26T17:38:28Z")
> [@Clu-Me-In](#): > > Who would make the decision to prosecute or not Prosecute Hillary Clinton regarding the Email Server situation? > [@Clu-Me-In](#): > > Exposing national security to prying eyes. > [@Clu-Me-In](#): > > They will soon, but that wasn’t my question. > [@Clu-Me-In](#): > > I ain’t a lawyer… she’s dirty and needs to make way for Bernie. **Moderator Note** It’s rather obvious that this is a politically motivated question rather than just a simple request for information. However, it’s not clear whether this would be better placed in GD or the Pit. I’m closing this. The OP may open another thread in an appropriate forum. Colibri General Questions Moderator