Hillary Clinton May Have Blown It for Good This Time

Is the Bill and Hillary Clinton stranglehold on the Democratic Party in jeopardy? As Hillary scrambles to put out the firestorm over her exclusive use of a private computer server at her home in Chappaqua, NY, for all her emails while Secretary of State, there are high-profile Democrats who are sounding warning alarms. ~~~~~ The Fiscal Times says Democrats are having "a collective sense of déjà vu, and a sinking feeling of disaster." Two scandals have sent shock waves through the Clinton campaign even before it is official, an unpleasant reminder of Clinton-era scandals that Democrats hoped were dealt with and forgotten -- Whitewater, Monicagate, Hillary's billing records while an attorney, the never fully explained White House 'suicide,' Paula Jones and other sexual harassment charges, impeachment. ~~~~~ Hillary Clinton has often been accused of withholding as much information as possible. Partisans say it emanates from the Whitewater era. But, the building and operating an undisclosed email server from her home while Secretary of State was an excess of disclosure-phobia, even for Hillary. In a move that was probably too little too late, yesterday, a message was sent on Clinton's Twitter account : "I want the public to see my email. I asked State to release them, They said they will review them for release as soon as possible," according to the Tweet from @Hillary Clinton. State Department spokesperson Marie Harf said the department will review for release the emails Clinton provided as quickly as possible, but said it could take some time, given the 55,000 pages of emails. Concerning questions about classified information leaks because of Hillary's use of a personal email system, Harf said Secretary Clinton used staff's or assistants' computers to send classified materials. Democrats have been downplaying the House committee, chaired by Trey Gowdy, that is investigating the Benghazi attacks leading to the assassination of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others, and calling on Republicans to give up on investigating Benghazi. But, Hillary's tens of thousands of secret emails have breathed new life into the Benghazi scandal that occurred while Mrs. Clinton was Secretary of State and hiding her correspondence. Gowdy's committee issued subpoenas yesterday for the emails. The committee also instructed technology companies it did not identify to preserve any relevant documents in their possession. Congress said it learned last summer about Clinton's use of a private email account to conduct official State Department business during its Benghazi investigation. Speaker Boehner said : "It doesn't matter whether the emails are at Foggy Bottom, Chappaqua or Bora Bora. The Benghazi Select Committee needs to see all of these emails, because the American people deserve all of the facts." Democrats called it a fishing expedition. But, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said : “Very specific guidance has been given to agencies all across the government, which is specifically that employees in the Obama administration should use their official e-mail accounts when they’re conducting official gov ernment business. However, when there are situations where personal e-mail accounts are used, it is important for those records to be preserved, consistent with the Federal Records Act.” Earnest said the administration would have to rely on Clinton’s assurances that she met the fallback requirement of sending pertinent e-mails to be archived. Clinton's email practices have left the Obama administration in an awkward position. The State Department directed reporters to contact Clinton. The White House said it was Hillary's responsibility to make sure emails about official business weren't deleted from her private server. And, the AP said it is considering legal action under the US Freedom of Information Act against the State Department for failing to turn over some emails covering Clinton's time at State, after waiting more than one year. The department has never suggested that it doesn't possess all Clinton's emails, even though State Department General Counsel just found out about the private server last summer. In fact, it was a business record for the internet connection used by Hillary's server that revealed it was registered as early as August 2010 under the address for her Chappaqua residence. The customer was listed as Eric Hoteham, an untraceable name. However, a Hillary Clinton aide was identified in a 2002 congressional report as Eric Hothem, a name spelled differently than in the internet records. Hothem, a special assistant to Clinton as far back as 1997, is considered one of the family's IT experts. Hothem surfaced in at least two Clinton controversies. A congressional report in 2002 investigating pardons said a Citibank account linked to Hothem wired $15,000 to President Clinton's brother, Roger, in March 2001, while investigators were trying to compel Roger Clinton to testify about his role in several pardon cases. The President's lawyer told investigators the money came from a Clinton personal account and was intended for Clinton's brother to hire a lawyer. Hothem was also named by a former White House chief usher as saying the Clintons were permitted to take furniture when they left the White House that later was determined to belong to the government. ~~~~~ When they left the White House, the Clintons were determined to amass a personal fortune. Looking back, the Clintons' greedy search for money led them to create a diabolically slick way to let foreign countries and individuals contribute to the Clinton political machine without breaking the US law that forbids foreign nationals and countries from making contibutions to federal candidates. We didn't call Bill 'Slick Willy' for nothing. The Clinton Foundation has collected more than $2 billion since Bill Clinton founded it in 2002. A lot of those donations came from foreign countries. In order to separate Hillary from those conflicts of interest when she became Secretary of State, the Foundation entered an agreement with the White House in 2008 that laid out that new rules intended to allow the Clinton Foundation to continue its “important philanthropic work around the world,” while avoiding conflicts. It was signed by Bruce Lindsey, then the Foundation’s chief executive, and the powerful Valerie Jarrett, then co-chair of Obama’s transition team. Jennifer Friedman, a White House spokesperson, said the agreement was signed “to avoid any appearance of conflict of interest” and “in keeping with the high standards we set for our nominees.” She said the deal went “above and beyond standard ethics requirements.” However, last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Clinton Foundation had lifted the ban on donations from foreign governments while Hillary was serving as Secretary of State. The Foundation had taken millions of dollars from big corporations - the kind that Democrats love to hate - during Hillary’s tenure at State, while she traveled as Secretary, paving the way for trade deals on their behalf. National Journal’s Ron Fournier called the donations “a stupid and sleazy conflict of interest.” But worse, it turned out that foreign governments had donated to the Clinton Foundation not just after Hillary left State, but also during her tenure as Secretary. The Washington Post reported a $422,000 donation from Algeria that was not vetted by the State Department for conflicts of interest, but donors also included Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, and Qatar, whose ties to Hamas and the Taliban are a sore point with the US. The State Department initially claimed they had vetted all but the Algerian donation, but then had to walk that back on Tuesday. The only transactions they vetted during Hillary’s tenure were “hundreds” of paid speaking fees for Bill Clinton, as well as a few consultancy contracts, from foreign governments. ~~~~~ Dear readers, today, the lack of competition among Democrats for the 2016 candidacy is total. Democrats have relied completely on Hillary Clinton, but after several years of losses at the federal and state levels, Democrats don't have many options. Possible candidates hold back, undoubtedly worried about the powerful Clinton machine and interfering with the “it’s time for a woman President” argument. Hillary has made herself indispensable, and Clinton nostalgia is the unavoidable theme for Democrats right now. Unfortunately for them, they’re discovering the outrageous extent to which the Clintons believe the rules don't apply to them, which stretches from 1992 to today. As long as the Clintons maintain their throathold on the Democratic establishment, they will force on the party a damaged and damaging party leader. As Chris Cillizza wrote in the Washington Post on Tuesday, what is happening “reinforces everything people don’t like about” Hillary Clinton.