2016 Postmortem

If the server, there is a real likelihood that no one would ever have known if the SD got all the emails in a timely manner. The rules on office records, despite precedents where practice did not follow the rules, was that the emails should have been archived. In fact, had she done this she would have been CLOSER to the guidelines Obama set in 2014 (AFTER HRC) than any predecessor. So, had she doen that - either we never would have known anything about her server OR we would have known that it was not explicitly outlawed and that she took care to preserve, archive and have available in a timely fashion to the State Department her work email. (Key take away - it counters rather than reinforces the idea that she hides things and it means there would never have been the slowly changing story that fed the false idea that she was not honest.

If you ask why there was a classification issue -- it came when the State Department had to redact emails in full or in part before they put them all online. The FIRST person to ask that they all be put online was Clinton in an effort to defuse a negative story. This meant that many emails that never would have been made public were. It also meant that the State Department had to look at every line of every email and consider whether, added to what was at that point known and in conjunction with all the other emails, it should be classified to allow it to be redacted.

What you can see is that over 4 years in the department, where HRC would have originated and received classified material on a daily basis -- it clearly was sent over the classified networks. In fact, some "incriminating" emails where top aides wrote of trouble sending stuff over classified means - actually confirm that the practice was to use the classified systems for classified material.

One issue that totally got confused was that she substituted a NON CLASSIFIED private account for the NON CLASSIFIED state.gove account that she should have used. In EITHER case, classified information should not have been there. However, for any non classified account for someone working in national security, it is likely that some things that were not classified information might - because of things that happened in the up to 6 intervening years - might be sensitive enough that they would need to be classified before being put on a public website for all to see. (Consider that a minor player years ago in some country might now be a leader, who could be embarrased (or worse) by reports mentioning his opinions back in - say - 2009. )

My conjecture, and I am aware it is a CONJECTURE, is that if everything was archived and all the FOIA and Congressional inquiries were done starting back when HRC was Secretary -- there would have been no claims the Obama administration was stonewalling or hiding anything. Further, there would have probably been no issue of her email - or if there was one at all, it would have been minor and easily responded to.