Involuntary Treason is Still Treason Under the Law - Part 1

by

       M. Richard Maxson

      The greatest scandal in American history is unfolding, or not, before our eyes. The so-called impeachment is the latest smoke screen by a desperate coalition of party loyalists and anti-constitutionals to fundamentally change America. The Russian connection, that they paid for, has turned out to be what is was – false and they are losing control of the narrative as the Justice Department’s criminal investigation into the previous administration continues. They appear solemnly in front of cameras daily as their “secret investigation” leaks continuously from one direction. The American Constitutionalist will continue to print the facts – the truth, as difficult as it can be to differentiate from the smoke, mirrors, and outright lies being fed to the American people on a daily basis. Let’s get to it.

      Whether voluntary or involuntary the Espionage Act does not differentiate. It states, "Whoever...having lawful possession or control of any… document relating to national defense…(1) through gross negligence permits the same to be removed from it’s proper place of custody… shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years or both."

The Timeline

• 2008 – Soon after the election an illegal off-site server used for clintonemail.com is registered under the name Eric Hoteham. This is presumably a misspelling of Eric Hothem, the name of a former Clinton aide.

• January 13, 2009 -- The domain clintonemail.com is registered in the name of longtime adviser to former President Bill Clinton, Justin Cooper. Hillary Clinton's email is set up as hdr22@clintonemail.com

     

     Government employees are allowed to use private emails for government work. However, this practice is strongly discouraged. If using a private email, "the agency must ensure that federal records sent or received on such systems are preserved in the appropriate agency record-keeping system." The National Archives and Records Administration states that personal email can only be used in "emergency situations" and that emails from personal accounts should be captured and managed (stored, preserved, and protected) in accordance with agency record-keeping practices. The State Department requests that all former secretaries of state "submit any records in their possession for proper preservation."

• November 2012 -- Clinton's private email server was redesigned to use Google as the backup server.

• December 13, 2012 -- Congressional investigators ask Clinton if she uses a personal email as information has surfaced that a Romanian hacker called "Guccifer" had possession of emails from this account. Clinton changes her email address.

• July 2013 – Suspecting multiple hacks Clinton's email server is changed once again.

• March 3, 2015 – With reports of another hack and classified information being leaked, State Department spokeswoman Maria Harf says: "[There's] no indication that Secretary Clinton used her personal email account for anything but unclassified purposes ... While Secretary Clinton did not have a classified email system, she did have multiple other ways of communicating in a classified manner, including assistants printing documents for her, secure phone calls and secure video conferences."

• March 4, 2015 -- The House committee investigating the 2012 attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, issues a subpoena for Clinton's Libya-related emails. After 48 hours of silence, Clinton tweets: "I asked State to release them. They said they will review them for release as soon as possible."

• March 5, 2015 -- It is revealed that Clinton isn't publicly registered as the owner of the domain and server used to operate her personal email. This makes it more difficult to trace the account back to her. Accounts were registered in her aides' names, and she used a proxy company to shield her involvement.

• March 6, 2015 -- The State Department begins reviewing emails to determine what can be publicly released, not whether Clinton violated the law. (Espionage Act) Refusing to co-operate with the Congressional investigation, Clinton wouldn't disclose how her emails were encrypted. Her reasoning was, "given what people with ill intentions can do with such information in this day and age, there are concerns about broadcasting specific technical details about past and current practices."

• March 27, 2015 -- Rep. Trey Gowdy makes the statement, "Secretary Clinton unilaterally decided to wipe her server clean and permanently delete all emails from her personal server," during a Congressional investigation. This is a possible violation of the law. Clinton's lawyer responds in a letter that she "has maintained and preserved copies" of work-related or potentially work-related emails that were turned over to the State Department late in 2014. The lawyer, David Kendall, also stated that federal law governing record retention requires that each federal employee individually decide what emails must be preserved.

• March 31, 2015 -- It is revealed that Clinton used both an iPad and a Blackberry for email, contradicting the statement she made on March 10 about not wanting to carry multiple devices.

• April 15, 2015 -- It is discovered that Clinton ignored questions from Congress in 2012 about her email.

• May 21, 2015 -- The government's chief records officer says more than 1,200 of the emails Clinton gave them were deemed to be personal and not part of the federal record, but in March, Clinton stated that these emails no longer existed as they were wiped.

• July 7, 2015 -- CNN's Brianna Keilar has an exclusive interview with Clinton. In response to being asked about deleting 33,000 emails while under investigation by a House panel, Clinton says other secretaries of state had done the same thing. Clinton also says she was never subpoenaed by the House.

• July 24, 2015 -- The inspector general for the intelligence community informs members of Congress that some materials from Clinton's emails contain classified information.

• July 26, 2015 -- Clinton says she did not send classified emails from her private server while she was secretary of state. "I am confident that I never sent nor received any information that was classified at the time it was sent and received," Clinton tells reporters in Winterset, Iowa.

• July 31, 2015 -- The State Department releases another batch of emails. This batch has been heavily redacted with sensitive information that needed to be kept from the public. This was NOT what she had been saying so on August 11, 2015 -- Clinton agrees to turn over her private email server and a thumb-drive backup to authorities and the intelligence community inspector general confirms that at least five emails have contained classified information.

• August 12, 2015 -- One of Clinton's lawyers confirms that the private server used to contain Clinton's emails from 2009-13 was turned over to the Justice Department. The server was previously wiped of data, but FBI officials are confident that the data from it will be able to be recovered. Law enforcement officials suspect that the examination will take months as BleachBit was used to erase data.

• August 17, 2015 -- Intelligence officials reviewing emails from the server have recommended that 305 documents be sent to other agencies for consultation. Clinton tells reporters, “I just said, over 1,200 of those emails have been deemed not work-related. Under the law, that decision is made by the official. I was the official. I made those decisions."

• August 26, 2015 -- At an event in Iowa, Clinton says, "My use of personal email was allowed by the State Department. It clearly wasn't the best choice. I should have used two emails -- one personal, one for work -- and I take responsibility for that decision." She also adds: "Well, I know people have raised questions about my email use as secretary of state, and I understand why. I get it." This is a change from her previous responses to questions about her email use.

• September 8, 2015 -- Hillary Clinton releases an apology and statement on her Facebook page about the email scandal: "I wanted you to hear this directly from me. Yes, I should have used two email addresses, one for personal matters and one for my work at the State Department. Not doing so was a mistake. I'm sorry about it, and I take full responsibility …"

• September 30, 2015 -- The State Department releases the latest batch of Clinton's emails. This batch contains 3,849 documents from mostly 2010 and 2011. There are 215 more documents in addition to a previous batch of 125 that have been retroactively upgraded to "classified" and were not made publicly available. That made 340 emails with classified information in them that were not categorized as such by the Clinton’s State Department. The new emails also show that there was worry about the use of private email inviting hackers.

• November 30, 2015 -- The latest and largest batch of Clinton's emails is released. This release contains more than 5,000 emails, and approximately 328 of those were retroactively classified which brought the total to 668. Also included with the emails is a chain at the center of Republican criticism of Clinton's handling of the 2012 attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

2016

• January 7, 2016 -- Having not met its goal for the month of December, the State Department releases another batch of Clinton emails. The next group of emails to be released at the end of January is expected to be the last.

• January 14, 2016 -- In a letter to congressional intelligence committees, Intelligence Community Inspector General I. Charles McCullough III writes that emails on Clinton's private server have been flagged for classified information, some of which is considered the highest "top secret" level of classification.

• January 20, 2016 -- During a segment on National Public Radio, Clinton says the letter from the inspector general was nothing more than a ruse to damage her campaign for the presidency. Clinton's spokesman, Brian Fallon, also tells Bloomberg that they believed McCullough and Republican senators were working together to make the letter public.

• January 22, 2016 -- Due to inclement weather, the State Department asks for a one-month extension to release Clinton's remaining emails. January 29 is the original deadline set by the courts for releasing all of the emails on Clinton's private server.

• January 29, 2016 -- The State Department releases the second-to-last batch of emails from Clinton's private server. The State Department also announces that 22 emails would not be released due to their containing "top secret" information.

• February 4, 2016 -- During a State Department review of the past five secretaries' of state emailing practices, it is revealed that former secretaries of state Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice had received emails containing classified information through personal email accounts. The State Department found that Powell received two emails that are now deemed classified and that Rice and her staff received 10 emails. Minor mistakes in classification but nothing like the volume under Secretary of State Clinton.

• February 13, 2016 -- The State Department releases 551 of Hillary Clinton's emails. Of those, 84 emails were redacted and deemed classified bringing the total to 752.

• February 19, 2016 -- A batch of 562 emails are released ahead of the Nevada caucuses. Of those, 64 emails were upgraded to "confidential" and heavily redacted.

• February 23, 2016 -- U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan considers ordering subpoenas of Clinton and aide Huma Abedin, but he ultimately decides to wait and rule in favor of discovery.

• February 26, 2016 -- The State Department releases 881 emails, approximately 1,500 pages, of the remaining emails. As of this release, 1,840 emails have been retroactively upgraded to classified.

• February 29, 2016 -- The State Department releases the final batch of Clinton's emails. In total, more than 52,000 pages of emails have been reviewed with 2,101 being retroactively classified and 22 being upgraded to top secret. One of the final unclassified emails is being withheld from the public at the request of law enforcement.

      This is the greatest scandal in our country’s history and every true American should be outraged and also frightened in the way it is being swept away and the truth hidden by powerful forces within and without of our nation. In these next few months the future of the United States hangs in the balance. Will we survive whole? Will we break apart or will the Founders vision be extinguished for an attempt at a Socialist utopia which we know will fail? The Timeline continues with our next installment.