Hillary Clinton Has a New Email Problem

The chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee says not only does Hillary Clinton have some explaining to do, but so do the Obama administration’s State and Justice departments.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and his committee, in addition to oversight of the justice system, have jurisdiction over the Freedom of Information Act and federal agencies’ compliance with it. He issued the following statement following the release Friday of more Clinton emails by the State Department:

“The State Department’s latest Freedom of Information Act release contains a disturbing email that appears to show the former Secretary of State instructing a subordinate to remove the headings from a classified document and send it to her in an unsecure manner. It raises a host of serious questions and underscores the importance of the various inquiries into the transmittal of classified information through her nongovernment email server. 

“How long has the State Department been aware of this email? Why is it just now being released? Was her instruction actually carried out? If so, has the FBI opened a criminal inquiry into these circumstances? 

“President Obama’s State and Justice Departments owe the American people swift and accurate answers to these questions.   The former Secretary of State needs to finally come clean and be transparent about the email practices she used during her tenure at the department.”

Joseph diGenova, the former U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, told Laura Ingraham on Tuesday that Clinton and some of her staff may soon be indicted. Referencing the “Saturday Night Massacre”—in which then-President Richard Nixon fired Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox and Attorney General Elliot Richardson, and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus resigned in protest—in the midst of the Watergate scandal, he said:

“The [FBI] has so much information about criminal conduct by her and her staff that there is no way that they walk away from this. They are going to make a recommendation that people be charged and then Loretta Lynch is going to have the decision of a lifetime.

“I believe that the evidence that the FBI is compiling will be so compelling that, unless [Lynch] agrees to the charges, there will be a massive revolt inside the FBI, which she will not be able to survive as an attorney general. It will be like Watergate. It will be unbelievable.”

DiGenova said the fallout could extend beyond the Justice Department. The nation’s intelligence community “won’t stand” for anyone getting away with deliberately mishandling classified material, and it’s preparing for its own revolt, if Lynch refuses to prosecute, he said.

The Clinton email scandal goes beyond the mishandling of sensitive classified material on a home-brew private email server. The emails recovered so far indicate violations of the Hatch Act, which prohibits partisan political activities by officials using government property while on official duty.

DiGenova, who is well-sourced within federal law enforcement circles, said Clinton will “have problems” not just because of what’s in the emails, but also their classifications. Her biggest problem, he added, is the FBI.

“They’re not going away,” he said. “They have reached a critical mass in their investigation of the Secretary and all of her senior staff. And it’s going to come to a head, I would suggest, in the next 60 days.”