2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: It kills me to come to a gathering place for democrats [View all]karynnj
(59,944 posts)If the State Department had all the emails, they would have given the Congress and media the emails that matched the requests. None of the emails that were classified dealt with that - most were about the drone program etc.
The real problem was that she was seen to be secretive and to being willing to not tell the entire truth if something is unpleasant. As the FBI concluded, there was no case to indict on the classified information. In terms of providing stuff to Congress and the media, it is not criminal law -- I believe the only recourse is to demand the department provide it.
The problem was not classification, it was the perception that she hid stuff and that resonated with her 1990s reputation. The problem was POLITICAL, not legal. It eroded her favorables and whether she was perceived as honest. (Yes, I know that score is stunning when Trump lies as easily as he speaks.)