Politifact completely duped by Comey, thinks Clinton received/sent classified information in emails
Politifact 'went to print' with their 'finding' based on Comey's statement, July 5, that seemed to definitely indicate that the FBI found emails with classified information in them. In a rush to get something on the internet, they didn't wait to hear Comey's answers to questions from House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on July 7. To be more precise, they didn't hear Comey's answers to the questions from Democratic members of the committee in which Comey admitted that NOT ONE email Clinton received or sent was MARKED CLASSIFIED.- as is required by the Government when communicating actual classified information. And if the header - indicating Classified information is in the email - is NOT there - then you know there is no classified information in the email or attachment. Thus, Clinton's statement about not receiving or sending emails marked classified was accurate and completely truthful.
The GOP toadies at Politifact swallowed the tricky language of Comey's statement. The statement was a master class in disinformation and obfuscation. But people who claim to be able to ferret out the truth should have been able to smell something fishy in Comey's statement and waited until Comey appeared before the Committee to give more detailed testimony before announcing any findings. But that of course presupposes they are interested in the truth re Hillary Clinton, the bain of the Repugnant Party, over at Politifact.
FBI findings tear holes in Hillary Clinton's email defense
Clinton said, "I never received nor sent any material that was marked classified."
Clinton has made this claim over and over again. An independent FBI investigation has found that to be inaccurate.
Its important to remember that only "a very small number" of her emails, two, were marked classified when they were first sent, and just 110 out of the 30,000 she turned over were classified but unmarked. Evidence seems to indicate that Clinton generally dealt with classified information in an appropriate manner.
But over the course of a year, Clinton and her staff have painted a picture of an email setup where absolutely zero classified information slipped through the cracks, case closed.
We rate this statement False.
I rate Politifact's finding as Consummately Fatuous but, no doubt, approved by the GOP.
IF you're interested in a more detailed examination of Comey's verbal tricks and obfuscations (a diplomatic word for lies) see:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/12512261723
lapucelle
(18,419 posts)lcarroll@politifact.com
I'm going to write and politely suggest that she reassess.
Bill USA
(6,436 posts)FBI investigators have also read all of the approximately 30,000 e-mails provided by Secretary Clinton to the State Department in December 2014. [font size="3"]Where an e-mail was assessed as possibly containing classified information, the FBI referred the e-mail to any U.S. government agency that was a likely owner of information in the e-mail, so that agency could make a determination as to whether the e-mail contained classified information at the time it was sent or received[/font], or whether there was reason to classify the e-mail now, even if its content was not classified at the time it was sent (that is the process sometimes referred to as up-classifying).
From the group of 30,000 e-mails returned to the State Department, [font size="3"]110 e-mails in 52 e-mail chains have been determined by the owning agency to contain classified information at the time they were sent or received[/font]. Eight of those chains contained information that was Top Secret at the time they were sent; 36 chains contained Secret information at the time; and eight contained Confidential information, which is the lowest level of classification.
I think it should be apparent that if he says:
and
[FONT SIZE=+1"] ....that means THE EMAILS WERE NOT MARKED as CLASSIFIED.[/FONT]
What this means is, despite all the talk by Comey of "CLassified emails", there were NONE marked classified --- which is required by the Gov Reg/Manual governing the transmittal of Classified information.
This further means that either Comey was not familiar with the governing reg in the matter of transmitting classified information - or he decided to 'go with' his own definition of "Classified information in an email" when he so often referred to "classified emails". Some would say when one "goes with their own definition" that is tantamount to lying.
A very good article on this can be found here: CONFIRMED: James Comey Statement on Clinton Emails Proves Hillary DID NOT LIE
from Comeys statement: 110 e-mails in 52 e-mail chains have been determined by the owning agency to contain classified information at the time they were sent or received.
Lets break that down. 110 out of 55,000 emails are said to have contained classified information. Thats just 0.2 percent of her emails. Crucially, these emails were not marked classified. And there is absolutely no indication or accusation that classified markings were concealed or removed.
Therefore, we can unequivocally say that out of 55,000 emails, Hillary never received or sent a single email that was both marked classified and contained classified information.
(more)
and here: Three facts that prove Clinton wasn't 'careless' with her emails - CNBC
First, as Clinton repeatedly has stated over the last year, she never received or sent any email that was marked as classified. At Comey's press conference on Tuesday, he appeared to contradict that claim, saying there were "very few" that had classified markings. But then at the congressional hearing on Thursday, he withdrew his claim. He said that three, out of more than 30,000, had a marking of a small "C" something he said a classification expert would not regard as sufficient to know the document contained classified information.
Not surprisingly, the media on Tuesday and Wednesday hyped the fact that the FBI director had contradicted Clinton's repeated assertions that she had never sent or received emails marked as classified, but then when Comey later withdrew that claim, the media barely covered the reversal.
Second, despite accusations by partisan Republicans to the contrary, there is no evidence none that the former secretary of State in fact compromised national security by using a private server. Both the FBI director and the State Department inspector general confirmed that. Comey's statement that it is "possible" is pure speculation questionable for the head of the FBI to use such a speculative word publicly.
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Third, Comey used the expression "extreme carelessness" because he said Clinton "should have known" that more than 100 emails that were sent to her private server using nonsecure communications channels contained classified information, albeit without any classification markings. But what he did not say is that more than 300 State Department officials, including many longtime, nonpartisan career professionals and diplomats, also used the same nonclassified channels to send her these emails allegedly containing classified information.
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scscholar
(2,902 posts)They go out of their way to hate on her constantly. Constantly.