Politics

Napolitano Blasts Hillary Clinton’s Email Defense As A ‘Word Game’

Reuters

Steve Guest Media Reporter
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Judge Andrew Napolitano destroyed the defense that Hillary Clinton has used for having classified information on her private email server arguing that for Clinton to say she never received anything “marked” classified is a “word game.”

Appearing on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday, Napolitano argued that Clinton set up a private email server in the first place because she “wanted to hide from the rest of the State Department what she was doing in Libya, because she wanted to hide from us via the Freedom of Information Act, what she was doing as Secretary of State.” (RELATED: Clinton Says FBI Has Not Informed Her She Is Target Of Investigation [VIDEO])

When asked about the defense Clinton used for having classified information on her private email server during Fox News’ Democratic town hall event Monday night, Napolitano said, “For her to say, ‘I neither sent nor received anything classified’ is a word game because nothing is marked classified. It is marked confidential, secret or top secret.”

Clinton “signed an oath her first day in office. In which she said, I understand my legal obligation is to know what is secret, whether it is marked secret or not. I also understand that the failure to recognize that could be criminal in nature. So what makes something confidential, secret or top secret is not a stamp marked on it, it’s the essence of the e-mail,” Napolitano said. (RELATED: State Dept. Releases 19 ‘SECRET’ Hillary Emails, The Most So Far)

Napolitano then rhetorically asked, “Does it contain information, the revelation of which could harm national security? Let’s see. Would photographs of a North Korean nuclear facility if disseminated, harm national security? Would the names of American spies particularly moles working for more countries than the U.S., would that harm national security? Would Ambassador Stevens’ itinerary in Libya in the two days before he was murdered harm national security?”

“Guess what,” Napolitano said, Clinton “emailed all of that in a non-secured server. And she had a legal obligation to know that that would affect national security.” (RELATED: Napolitano: Hillary Clinton Should Be ‘Terrified’ IT Guy Was Given Immunity [VIDEO])

Napolitano then suggested that it would have been okay for Clinton to send that information on the secure State Department servers to other State Department accounts, but not her private email server.

Co-host Brian Kilmeade then asked if it would have been okay for Clinton to send that classified information from a secure State Department account to a non-secure personal email account, giving the example, “SteveDoocy.com” and Napolitano said if Clinton did that, she would be committing a crime. (RELATED: Napolitano: Case For Prosecuting Hillary For ‘Espionage Is Well Known, Well Documented’ [VIDEO])

Kilmeade followed up, “Could she honestly say, that she didn’t know what was classified and was not classified or that they over-classify at the State Department?”

“No,” Napolitano said, arguing, “Because this is a rare federal crime where the government doesn’t have to prove intent. You can commit the crime by gross negligence. If she’s going to tell the jury there were 2,000 emails that she sent or received that had confidential, secret or top secret information there and she didn’t know it, only the most hardened Hillary Clinton supporters would believe that. No federal prosecutor would believe it, no FBI Agent would believe it, no grand juror would believe, no trial juror would believe it.”

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