Re unsecure phones and email: The government does provide both. One problem is government assets aren't supposed to be used for political business and they all do both government and political stuff. So how to segregate the two things is always a problem. In reality, discussions on an issue will often involve both policy and politics in the same sentence.
As for Hillary, she set up a private server and did ALL her business there. She actually DECLINED having a government email account.
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Was Clinton allowed to use personal email for government business?
Yes, the occasional use of a personal email account is permitted in certain circumstances, such as emergencies. As we wrote, the IG report said it found “many examples of staff using personal email accounts to conduct official business.” But, as we also wrote, the National Archives and Records Administration requires all work-related emails to be properly preserved. Federal rules required Clinton to preserve work emails and turn them over before leaving office, but she did not turn over her emails until 21 months after she left office.
Was she allowed to use a private server?
No. As we wrote, the IG report said that it has been department policy since 2005 — four years before Clinton took office — that “normal day-to-day operations” be conducted on government servers. The report noted that the department’s Foreign Affairs Manual was updated in November 2005 to say “it is the Department’s general policy that normal day-to-day operations be conducted on an authorized [automated information system].” The IG made a distinction between occasional use in emergencies and exclusive use of personal email. “Beginning in late 2005 and continuing through 2011, the Department revised the FAM and issued various memoranda specifically discussing the obligation to use Department systems in most circumstances and identifying the risks of not doing so,” the IG report said
Did Clinton seek government approval to use a private server for her personal email account?
No. The IG report said Clinton “had an obligation” to discuss her email system with the department, but it could find “no evidence” that Clinton sought approval for her unusual email arrangement. If she did, the report says her request would have been denied by the bureaus of Diplomatic Security and Information Resource Management. Brian Fallon, a Clinton campaign spokesman, has told us: “It did not occur to her that having it on a personal server could be so distinct that it would be unapproved.”
Did other secretaries of state use personal emails for government business?
The IG report confirmed what we had previously written: Among Clinton’s predecessors, only Colin Powell (Jan. 20, 2001–Jan. 26, 2005) used a personal email account for government business. Madeleine Albright (Jan. 23, 1997–Jan. 20, 2001) did not use email at all, and Condoleezza Rice (Jan. 26, 2005–Jan. 20, 2009) did not use a personal email account to conduct government business, the IG report said. Clinton’s successor, Secretary of State John Kerry, told the inspector general’s office that he “infrequently” used a personal email account for government business “when responding to a sender who emailed him on his personal account.”
No other secretary of state maintained a private server that was used for government business.
Did Clinton have a government email account?
No. The FBI said she declined to have one set up for her.
The State Department’s information technology staff did create two email accounts associated with Clinton that were not used by her. One was used to send mass emails to all State Department employees on her behalf. That was SMSGS@state.gov, and it was not configured to receive emails. The other was SSHRC@state.gov, which was created only to manage Clinton’s Outlook Calendar. That one was not configured to send or receive emails. ( See page 10.)
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http://www.factcheck.org/2016/07/a-guide-to-clintons-emails/ |
