Bernie Sanders Is Probably The Democrats’ Nominee

Hillary Clinton testifying to the House Select Committee on Benghazi.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons/C-Span

It is becoming increasingly apparent that whoever the Democratic Party’s nominee will be, it will not be Hillary Clinton. News came out yesterday she not only had classified information on her unsecured email server, but some emails contained a very special type of top secret information. This information is so sensitive, it has special handling requirements for securing it over and above what is required for more ordinary top secret documents. Called information on Special Access Programs (SAP), it is in effect a separate security classification even higher than top secret.

On January 14, Intelligence Community Inspector General I. Charles McCullough III sent an unclassified letter to members of Congress with oversight over the intelligence community and the State Department. In it he detailed the security breaches discovered so far.

To date, I have received two sworn declarations from one IC [intelligence community] element. These declarations cover several dozen emails containing classified information determined by the IC element to be at the CONFIDENTIAL, SECRET, and TOP SECRET/SAP levels. According to the declarant, these documents contain information derived from classified IC element sources. Due to the presence of TOP SECRET/SAP information, I provided these declarations under separate cover to the Intelligence oversight committees and Senate and House Leadership. The IC element is coordinating with State to determine how these documents should be properly treated in the FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] litigation.

Fox News reported further that a former senior law enforcement officer told them, “There is absolutely no way that one could not recognize SAP material. It is the most sensitive of the sensitive.” 

To knowingly jeopardize the security of TOP SECRET/SAP information is a very serious felony. Generally, the loss of such information to hostile hands can cause the loss of human lives, and therefore its mishandling deserves to be a felony. If the FBI substantiates the IG’s information, it is inconceivable to me they would not recommend to the Justice Department that Hillary Clinton be indicted; given such an FBI recommendation, it would be politically foolhardy for Obama’s Justice Department not to seek an indictment.

Many of Clinton’s classified emails were sent to her longtime advisor, Sidney Blumenthal, who appears not to have had a security clearance. In March 2013 his computer was hacked by Romanian Marcel Lehel, who styles himself “Gucifer”. Gucifer apparently distributed Clinton’s emails to hundreds of recipients on email distribution lists. At least two of these recipients were in the Russian Federation. Guccifer also sent the emails to around two dozen reporters working for Russian newspapers such as Pravda, the Moscow Times, the St. Petersburg Times, and the RT news channel. Also read Zerohedge’s account of the distribution. Who knows who else accessed these emails by hacking either Clinton’s or Blumenthal’s computer?

General David Petraeus was indicted and convicted for similar offenses, albeit he shared this information with only his paramour Paula Broadwell. Broadwell herself was a commissioned officer in the Army Reserve, and would therefore hold either a Secret or Top Secret clearance. If Petraeus was held guilty and punished for divulging sensitive classified information to a single individual who was demonstrably not an enemy, how can the Obama administration justify ignoring an even more serious security breach by Clinton?

Even ignoring these legal problems, Clinton was already in big political trouble. Bernie Sanders, riding a renewed enthusiasm for socialism in the Democratic Party (see also What Do Young Americans Believe?), has been closely pressing Clinton in the opinion polls. Currently, in the RealClearPolitics poll averages, Sanders leads Clinton 51.2% to 39.8% in New Hampshire; in Iowa, he trails Clinton by just four percentage points, 42.8% to her 46.8%. Nationally, Clinton has a more substantial lead of 13% with her 51.2% to Sanders’ 38.0%, although Sanders is steadily cutting her lead.

It would appear that to some extent, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump are mirror images, both of whom are profiting from the considerable anger of Americans toward the dysfunctional government they are forced to tolerate. As the Wall Street Journal points out, while “Mr. Trump has populist instincts but few fixed ideological principles”, Sanders “is a true-blue man of the left.” What they both illustrate as perceived outsiders is that in this election cycle, it is very perilous to run for office as a member of the political establishment. If Hillary Clinton is nothing else, she is the candidate of the Democratic establishment. This must account for a great deal of her losses to Sanders. To this explanation must be added the leftward migration of Democrats, especially among the young, and the increasing unlikability of Clinton. Certainly, the newly released movie 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi will not contribute anything to either her likability or trustworthiness,

A Clinton indictment for the felony of mishandling extremely sensitive classified material will be the final nail in the coffin of Hilary Clinton’s candidacy.

GO TO HOME

Sharing is caring!