A Special Prosecutor for Hillary Clinton?

Published in La Presse
(Canada) on 21 September 2015
by Marc Thibodeau (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Elona Ritchie. Edited by Eva Langman.
According to Republicans, the U.S. attorney general should immediately name a special prosecutor to shed light on the way Hillary Clinton managed her emails while she was secretary of state.

The idea, pushed forward this week by an influential Republican senator, is reminiscent of the time when her husband was caught in an embarrassing snafu with Monica Lewinsky — and nearly became destitute.

The Democratic front-runner's competition for the next presidential election would like to make history repeat itself under a different guise and thus torpedo her chances, but the underlying facts do not seem to favor this kind of scenario.

These partisan excesses don't mean there's nothing disconcerting about the accusations against her.

Last March's revelation that she had used a private rather than an official email address throughout her mandate — and that she had even set up a server to do so — raises legitimate questions that need to be answered.

Did the former secretary of state want to find a way around access to information laws, which would force her to keep all written documents related to her position?

Did she take an unnecessary risk by using a poorly secured server that could have allowed computer hackers to access designated information?

She maintained that she simply wanted to limit the number of electronic devices she needed to manage her communications. According to her, everything was perfectly legal and safe, and the sensitive information was handled properly.

After a court order, her entourage handed over copies of tens of thousands of emails to the government. Over 30,000 were destroyed because they supposedly were unrelated to her duties.

In July, after analyzing a sample of Clinton's communications, the intelligence community's inspector general stated that he had identified a handful of emails that should have been classified.

The FBI is on the case, but the attorney general stated that the current investigation is not criminal in nature, and is not specifically an investigation of Clinton.

Though she's not the type to torpedo her own campaign, the issue has had a negative impact on the former first lady, who refused to apologize for months.

A few days ago, she finally admitted that she should not have proceeded that way, but the mea culpa came grudgingly. And it left several important questions unanswered.

Unless she truly puts her cards down on the table, which means, among other things, explaining why she thought it was necessary to use her own server, Hillary Clinton will continue to draw criticism.

Recent polls, which revealed that her popularity is waning, should convince her of the virtues of greater transparency.


Au dire des républicains, le ministère de la Justice américain devrait désigner sans plus attendre un procureur spécial pour faire la lumière sur la manière dont Hillary Clinton a géré ses courriels alors qu'elle était secrétaire d'État.

La suggestion lancée cette semaine par un influent sénateur rappelle l'époque où le mari de la politicienne était dans l'embarras en raison de ses frasques avec Monica Lewinsky. Et qu'il avait frôlé la destitution.

Les adversaires de la favorite démocrate pour la prochaine élection présidentielle aimeraient rejouer l'histoire, sous une autre forme, pour torpiller ses chances, mais les faits sous-jacents ne semblent pas de nature à donner prise à un tel scénario.

Ces excès partisans ne signifient pas pour autant qu'il n'y a rien de préoccupant dans les agissements qui lui sont reprochés.

La révélation, en mars, qu'elle avait utilisé tout au long de son mandat une adresse courriel privée plutôt qu'une adresse officielle, et même aménagé un serveur à cette fin, suscite des interrogations légitimes qui tardent à trouver des réponses claires.

L'ancienne secrétaire d'État a-t-elle voulu se soustraire aux dispositions législatives sur l'accès à l'information l'obligeant à conserver tous les écrits liés à sa fonction ?

A-t-elle par ailleurs pris des risques inconsidérés en utilisant un serveur mal sécurisé qui aurait pu permettre à des pirates informatiques d'avoir accès à des informations protégées ?

La principale intéressée maintient qu'elle voulait simplement limiter le nombre d'appareils électroniques requis pour gérer ses communications. Selon elle, tout était parfaitement légal et sécuritaire, et l'information sensible a été gérée comme il se doit.

Son entourage a remis au gouvernement des copies de dizaines de milliers de courriels qui ont commencé à être divulgués sur ordre d'un tribunal. Plus de 30 000 autres ont été détruits parce qu'ils n'avaient supposément rien à voir avec ses fonctions.

En juillet, l'inspecteur général de la communauté du renseignement a annoncé qu'il avait identifié une poignée de courriels qui auraient dû être classés secrets en analysant un échantillon limité de ses écrits.
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