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Justice Dept. Grants Immunity To Staffer Who Set Up Clinton Email Server (washingtonpost.com)

schwit1 writes with this news from the Washington Post: The Justice Department has granted immunity to the former State Department staffer who worked on Hillary Rodham Clinton's private email server, a sign the FBI investigation into possible criminal wrongdoing is progressing. A senior U.S. law enforcement official said the FBI had secured the cooperation of Bryan Pagliano, who worked on Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign before setting up the server in her New York home in 2009. As the FBI looks to wrap up its investigation in the coming months, agents will likely want to interview Clinton and her senior aides about the decision to use a private server, how it was set up, and whether any of the participants knew they were sending classified information in emails, current and former officials said. The inquiry comes against a sensitive political backdrop in which Clinton is the favorite to secure the Democratic nomination for the presidency.

14 of 592 comments (clear)

  1. Let that be a lesson to any technology worker: by Etcetera · · Score: 4, Interesting

    No matter who you are, you're probably not the fish they want to fry.

    Don't incriminate yourself. Then, wait for a deal which allows you to unload on specifically what was asked of you, when, how, and why, and what you said, and what your concerns were.

    You're far more important as a neutral observer than as someone who configured a server.

  2. Or it's a sign... by QuietLagoon · · Score: 1, Interesting
    ... the FBI cannot find anything on Clinton, but has something on the staffer, and is hoping the staffer will give up something on Clinton.

    .
    The FBI doesn't go around granting immunity unless they need information to justify the immunity grant.

  3. Re:Will she pardon here self and him once she gets by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Everyone seems to forget that it was SOP during the Bush years for everyone to use an email server run by the RNC. That means as soon as anyone except Bernie pulls out the email thing against Clinton, the entire Republican Party will be under withering fire for the same issue. It could easily tilt the balance of the election totally against the republicans and end up as a sweep for the democrats.

    If the FBI charges Clinton with any sort of crime, it will just serve to further undermine the legitimacy of all law enforcement agencies in the US. It could easily turn into a nationwide war on police.

    So everyone needs to tread very carefully and make sure everything gets whitewashed regardless of what the truth really is.

    Captcha:imperial

    Are we sure slashdot's captcha software isn't some sore of psychic AI?

  4. I wonder by MitchDev · · Score: 1, Interesting

    How many security breaches there were breaking into Hilary's server vs all the other recents attacks on government servers. Her's may have been more secure... ;)

  5. Re:How much do you bet he dies some times befor tr by slashping · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Making a dress disappear was a bit too much too ask, though.

  6. Re:Remember how "Top Secret" works by Kjella · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Information that is "Top Secret" is born classified. Removing markings, headers, footers etc. doesn't change the classified nature of it. If you measure what was done with her server (leaving it in her hands to sift through at her leisure, turning over only that which she felt like doing and then wiping the rest) with what happens to ANYONE else when they are even suspected of breaking clearance rules ...

    Only in the land of fairies and unicorns. Information is born and everyone with a classification is supposed to submit it to a original certification authority that'll determine what, if any, classification status it'll get. Primarily it's the one who creates this information but secondarily everyone who receives it also has an independent duty to get any information they think is classified reviewed. From what I gather a lot of people sent information to Clinton's server that has been retroactively classified, meaning those who sent it didn't do their job. The accusations are so far as I can tell that Clinton should have recognized some of this information as obviously classified, so she didn't do her job either.

    I'd be much more interested to hear if there's any accusations of mishandling actual, pre-classified information. It's one thing to say that you could have, should have, maybe seen this was classified it's quite another to be reckless about content that's clearly marked secret/top secret. If they can prove that, they might have an actual case against her. If it's only a case of omission as a recipient of information that ought to be classified, that doesn't seem like that big a deal.

    --
    Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
  7. Re:This is backwards. by sycodon · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I work in aerospace. EVERY email we send has to be marked as Classified, Company Secret, or Unclassified. Even if you are asking your spouse to pick up some milk on the way home.

    --
    When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
  8. Re:I'm actually OK with this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Also, given that the email server was unclassified, and Clinton can demonstrate that she understood that and informed her subordinates not to use it to send her classified material, what more could she have done?

    Do you not understand the shit storm that happens in the private sector if someone accidentally sends you classified information? If you don't respond to it instantly in the correct way, you're going to jail.

    I've posted about seeing this happen before. Someone accidentally marked some stuff classified and then uploaded it. The fallout for merely mismarking information as classified and storing it on an unclassified network was instantly killing the network, checking which machines had accessed the server after the information was uploaded (thankfully it wasn't many), and then wiping the server and the machines that had accessed it. Because it was merely mismarked, we were allowed to then restore from backup and disks were just wiped and not physically destroyed.

    That's what happens when you merely misidentify something as classified.

    I've thankfully never seen what happens if there's an actual information contamination.

    Clinton received classified emails on an unclassified system and did nothing. If I did that, I'd be in jail right now. It's utterly indefensible, and in the end, she should - and almost certain will - be in jail.

  9. Re:Will she pardon here self and him once she gets by sexconker · · Score: 5, Interesting

    And items that were classified had their classification removed before being emailed per Hillary's instruction.
    She had her staff / interns scan/fax shit, remove the designation, and then email it. When it hit her email it wasn't marked classified. It's the equivalent of painting over a handicapped parking spot then parking on it.

  10. Re:Will she pardon here self and him once she gets by Tharkkun · · Score: 1, Interesting

    If the FBI charges Clinton with any sort of crime, it will just serve to further undermine the legitimacy of all law enforcement agencies in the US.

    You have that exactly backwards. Letting her walk when it's so obvious that she's committed many more counts of the same crime that Patreus was convicted for would demonstrate that some people can avoid consequences for blatant felonies.

    -jcr

    If her email server was never compromised then she never committed a single crime.

  11. Re:Will she pardon here self and him once she gets by Straif · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The only people who made that claim were Hillary reps and State department officials who have been trying to slow the entire review process down and cover her and their own asses.

    Of the now thousands of emails found to be classified or above most were classified at the time. Many are what are generally called 'born classified' meaning they contain information that by it's very nature, is always considered classified.

    While the State Department can classify/declassify their own internal documents (which has happened) they have been trying, and failing miserably, at getting the various intelligence organizations to agree to retroactively declassify their materials so that they can make the claim that no classified materials exist in her emails.

    --
    Of course that's just my opinion...... you could be wrong!
  12. Re:Will she pardon here self and him once she gets by Straif · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Patreus handed some classified materials to his biographer who also happened to have classified clearance, just not the right ones for some of the materials she apparently was given.

    Some of the emails released, though heavily redacted (up to 100%), from Hillary's emails cache were code-word classified meaning they were generally only to be seen by a very short list of people and only in a secure viewing room. Some of it was so highly classified that the IGs doing the initial investigation weren't even permitted to read them and had to go to the source organizations to have them reviewed.

    The fact that these were on her unsecured server, shared with several underlings without codeword clearance as well as then handed to her lawyer (who also did not have all the required clearances) who stored them in his office without the proper level of security for the types of documents that existed on the storage drive shows a complete disregard for the proper and legally required handling of classified materials.

    --
    Of course that's just my opinion...... you could be wrong!
  13. Re:Will she pardon here self and him once she gets by khasim · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I used to work in the fun little world of TS and above clearances (specifically in a technical role with what eventually became the F-117A Nighthawk). Our instructions were very clear and simple: if it's marked classified, it never leaves Tonopah Test Range.

    Not me. I only had a Secret clearance. And that was while I was in the Army. And that was back in the 80's. So we had Soviets and a divided Germany.

    And our instructions were to NEVER talk about ANYTHING work related to ANYONE who did not have a need to know AND a clearance.

    It might not seem like important information to YOU but that is because YOU do not know what OTHER information the enemy has.

    Therein lies my point - if it would land us peons in prison, then why should the law exempt her for doing the same thing?

    Or, to quote Hillary Clinton:

    "Why is there one standard for me and not for everybody else?"

    If we had done things similar, we WOULD be rotting in Leavenworth.

    FUCK! We even had to answer the TELEPHONE with the statement "this line is not secure".

  14. GOP showing true mastery of shooting themselves by damn_registrars · · Score: 4, Interesting

    (in the foot, of course)

    If the GOP were to manage to somehow knock Hillary out of the race for president, things actually get much worse - not better - for their cause. As much as they hate Hillary, they are overlooking the fact that Sanders beats every GOP candidate in national polling by even larger margins than does Hillary. Knocking her out would only guarantee their defeat.

    --
    Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.