Sunday, March 15, 2015

Uh Oh: Hillary’s Emails To State Department Employees Weren’t ‘Immediately’ Preserved

Matt Vespa / Townhall Tipsheet

Hillary Clinton’s narrative about her emails, which she explained in detail (sort of), seems to be falling apart. First, no one is truly accepting Clinton’s reason for using her personal email, which she said was done out of convenience. MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell said that "convenience is not a choice you have in government." This all comes down to the fact that Clinton didn’t want to use two devices–even though she admitted that she’s capable of using multiple devices–which Gawker’s John Cook slammed as “preposterous.” Additionally, Clinton said no work-related emails were deleted. Clinton did delete some 31,000 emails she deemed personal and private, but we’ll never know which emails were truly work-related or not because the review of the emails in question did not involve reading any of them.

Now, the claim she made about every email she sent to State Department employees being preserved “immediately” during her tenure as Secretary of State has been challenged … by the State Department (via Fox News):

A State Department spokeswoman said Friday that the department did not start automatically archiving emails from senior officials until February of this year -- raising questions about Hillary Clinton's claim that her emails were "immediately" saved whenever she corresponded with colleagues.

The former secretary of state made that assertion during her press conference earlier this week -- and in a lengthy statement put out by her office -- as she defended her exclusive use of personal email. Clinton downplayed concerns that official emails could have been lost by suggesting anytime she emailed anyone with a ".gov" address, that email would be stored for posterity.

"The vast majority of my work emails went to government employees at their government addresses, which meant they were captured and preserved immediately on the system at the State Department," she said Tuesday.

But department spokeswoman Jen Psaki made clear on Friday that this was not the way the system worked.

She said the department only started automatically archiving emails for other senior officials in February.

No, Trey Gowdy and Co. Aren't Going to Stop Searching for Benghazi Answers

Cortney O'Brien / Townhall Tipsheet

HBO late night host Bill Maher and Arianna Huffington had some fun Friday night making fun of the GOP's tireless pursuit of answers regarding the terror attack in Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012, that left four Americans dead. While Maher and his guest had contrasting views on Hillary Clinton's handling of her email scandal, they both laughed and agreed that at least it has taken some focus off of Benghazi. Before that, Nancy Pelosi dismissed Republicans' Benghazi agenda on Capitol Hill. With breathless exasperation, she blurted out "Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi" and called the investigation GOP 'subterfuge.'

I wonder, did Pelosi or any one else mocking their efforts ever stop to think maybe Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) and company are still pushing for answers because this is a serious issue that affects the safety of all of our American diplomats around the globe?

Thankfully, representatives like Susan Brooks (R-IN) recognize this danger. She made Benghazi the centerpoint in this week's Republican Address. See the address here: http://townhall.com/tipsheet/cortneyobrien/2015/03/14/no-trey-gowdy-and-co-arent-going-to-stop-searching-for-benghazi-answers-n1970687?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=

"It's simply unacceptable for so many questions to remain unanswered," she said.

Brooks and her fellow members on the Benghazi Select Committee are ready to press Clinton and other State Department officials for more details, for our diplomats are worth it.

"They are deeply committed to this work and their protection is one of our government's most solemn responsibilities."

"We have a duty to uncover the whole truth."

The Benghazi Select Committee, led by Chairman Trey Gowdy, has been one of the loudest groups to demand Clinton turn over her personal email server.

“Turn it over to a retired judge, an archivist, an inspector general, so that we can have some assurance that the ‘we’ that separated the public from the private did a good job,” Gowdy said.

Gowdy has also made clear he wants Clinton to appear twice before his Benghazi panel - and why not? As he famously stated once before, facts are neither Republican nor Democrat.

The likes of Maher, Huffington and Pelosi may mock Benghazi as a non-issue, but I'm sure the families of Chris Stevens, Sean Smith, Tyrone S. Woods, and Glen Doherty would say otherwise.

Afghan government gave CIA cash to al-Qaeda

By Robert Spencer / Jihad Watch

“It was just another in a long list of examples of how the United States, largely because of poor oversight and loose financial controls, has sometimes inadvertently financed the very militants it is fighting.” And yet the CIA cash kept flowing to Afghanistan, and probably still does. “C.I.A. Cash Ended Up in Coffers of Al […]

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US Embassy in Saudi Arabia halts operations amid heightened Islamic terror concerns

Pamela Geller / Atlas Shrugs

The fallout from Obama’s foreign policy failures make Americans unsafe at home and abroad.

U.S. officials said today that they will halt operations at the embassy and consulates in Saudi Arabia for the next couple of days, in response to “heightened security concerns.”

Embassy officials in Riyadh issued the statement, saying telephone lines at the facilities will be down Sunday and Monday and encouraging U.S. citizens in Saudi Arabia to “be aware of their surroundings and take extra precautions when travelling throughout the country.”