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This is unbelievable. We have just received records from the Department of State
disclosing plans by senior State Department officials to set up a
"stand-alone PC" so that Clinton could check her emails in an office
"across the hall" through a separate, non-State Department computer
network system. Referencing the special Clinton computer system, Under
Secretary for Management Patrick F. Kennedy,
writes Clinton Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills, "The stand-alone separate
network PC is a great idea." The emails are from January 23-24, 2009, a
few days after Clinton was sworn in as Secretary of State.
The new emails were obtained by Judicial Watch in response to a court order in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit for State Department records about Hillary Clinton's separate email system. In the email chain, Lewis Lukens, former deputy assistant secretary of state and executive director of the secretariat, responds to a request from Mills by informing her, top Clinton aide Huma Abedin, and Kennedy that the new personal computer "in the secretary's office" would be "connected to the internet (but not through our system)." Abedin responds, "We are hoping for that if possible." The email exchange discussing plans to provide Clinton a separate computer to skirt the internal State Department computer network begins with a message from Mills to Lukens in which she requests Clinton being able to access her emails through "a non-DOS computer." The email discusses how the stand-alone computer can be set up and why it is "a great idea' and "the best solution":
In separate litigation, the State Department told Judicial Watch and federal courts that Hillary Clinton was never issued secure State Department computing devices. These emails are shocking. They show the Obama State Department's plan to set up non-government computers and a computer network for Hillary Clinton to bypass the State Department network. The fact that these records were withheld from the American people until now is scandalous and shows the criminal probe of Hillary Clinton's email system should include current and former officials of the Obama administration. Our legal team filed these new emails with U.S. District Court Judge Emmett Sullivan, who is now considering whether to grant discovery in a lawsuit seeking information on the "special government employee" status of Abedin. In our filing, we state:
The media took up this story (which was reported first by Fox News.) The Obama gang responded with careful word parsing. The State Department spokesman John Kirby told CBS News:
Was a computer set up for Cheryl Mills (who evidently had the Counselor's office across the hall)? It will take another lawsuit or court-ordered discovery to get past this obfuscation. We will continue our investigation - we hope with the support of the courts. In the meantime, you can see that email isn't the only Clinton computer scandal. There are a lot of twists and turns in this one, but pay close attention to what a Hillary Clinton confidant advised her to do in response to some of the actions by congressional Republicans. When you have Sidney Blumenthal, Hillary Clinton, Eric Cantor and David Petraeus mentioned in one government document, it's time to pay close attention. Back on January 7, 2016, we obtained a new batch of documents from the Department of State, including a "Confidential" memo from Clinton advisor Sidney Blumenthal to the former secretary of state suggesting that a grand jury and the Senate Judiciary Committee should investigate whether former Rep. Eric Cantor or his staff violated the Espionage Act by disclosing classified information related to the FBI investigation of former CIA Director David Petraeus. According to the Blumenthal-to-Clinton email, if classified information was discussed by Cantor, his staff, or anyone "inside or outside the bureau," it "is a felony" in violation of the Espionage Act. Blumenthal's fantasy prosecution of Cantor aside, it is for sure true that if Clinton kept classified information on her non-state.gov server, that also may be a criminal violation of the Espionage Act. (And, of course, Petraeus eventually was forced to plead guilty in a slap-on-the-wrist plea deal.) The documents also contain an email to Clinton in which Blumenthal sent a copy of a "Confidential" memo to top Obama 2012 presidential debate advisor Ron Klain warning that GOP candidate Mitt Romney would "falsify, distort, and mangle facts" in the final campaign debate. The Blumenthal memo was sent to Klain and copied to Clinton just four days before the final debate. The documents include an email sent after the Benghazi attack in which Blumenthal informs Clinton of his "Latest Libya intel" regarding the turmoil in that country. Though barred by the Obama administration from being an official State Department advisor to Clinton, Blumenthal - who at the time was also employed by the Clinton Foundation - claimed to have "a very sensitive source" providing him "internal govt discussions high level" concerning Libyan internal security. The new emails, also available on the State Department website, were obtained by Judicial Watch in response to a court order. The Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed on May 6, 2015, asked for the following:
The State Department's records include the November 13, 2012, email from Blumenthal to Clinton in which he speculates about former Rep. Eric Cantor's dealings with then-FBI Director Robert Mueller concerning the agency's investigation of former CIA Director David Petraeus. In the email, Blumenthal raises the possible need for both a grand jury and a Senate Judiciary Committee investigation of possible violations of the Espionage Act by Cantor and his staff if classified information was made public:
Clinton, the United States Secretary of State, responded not with a "you are crazy, why are you writing this to me" but with a request for more info:
The other major find is an another unhinged October 19, 2012, email from Blumenthal to Clinton in which he sends a copy of a lengthy "Confidential" memo to Klain expounding upon how to defeat Mitt Romney in the third and final 2012 presidential debate:
An email from Blumenthal to Clinton contains a lengthy "Confidential" memo in which he provides his "latest Libya intel" from "internal govt discussions high level." The memo, later forwarded by Clinton to then-Deputy Chief of Staff Jake Sullivan, reveals that more than a year after the Obama/Clinton assisted overthrow of Qaddafi, ostensibly intended to bring about a peaceful transition, the country remained at the mercy of the same terrorist groups that attacked the Benghazi consulate. Claiming that his information comes from a "very sensitive source," Blumenthal informed Clinton of the following:
It is beyond ironic that Hillary Clinton and Sidney Blumenthal, her secret Clinton Foundation adviser at the State Department, discuss criminal prosecutions of Republicans for the handling of classified information over the Petraeus scandal. And it is disturbing that then-Secretary of State Clinton was involved in advising the Obama reelection campaign on how to continue lying about the Benghazi attack. No wonder Hillary Clinton tried to hide these email records rather than disclose them years ago as required by law. The Obama administration continues to provide cover for Hillary Clinton, but some in the judiciary are running out of patience with the gamesmanship. We are pleased to report to you this week that Judge Rudolph Contreras ordered the State Department to explain how and when new records from the office of Hillary Clinton were located and why they were not identified previously. The court order comes in a Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit seeking records about the State Department vetting of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's potential conflicts of interest. The explanation was initially due on Monday, but Judge Contreras granted the State Department an extension to Friday, February 5, 2015, due to the federal government shutdown because of the recent blizzard. (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:15-cv-00688)). Last month, we learned that the Obama State Department recently found "thousands" of new records from Hillary Clinton's tenure as Secretary of State. According to information provided to Judicial Watch by various Justice Department attorneys, the new documents appear be "working" records in electronic format located on both "shared" and "individual" drives accessible to or used by persons identified as being relevant to our various FOIA lawsuits on the Benghazi scandal and controversies from Clinton's term at State. The State Department admitted to Judge Contreras on January 14 that the new records include the files of two of Clinton's top aides:
Judge Contreras responded with a January 15 order that states:
At a July 9, 2015, hearing the judge was "concerned" about the preservation of Clinton's records and warned that the State Department will "have to answer for" any destruction of Hillary Clinton email records. The lawsuit stems from a Judicial Watch FOIA request on March 17, 2015, and a subsequent lawsuit filed on May 6, 2015, seeking:
The State Department is protecting Hillary Clinton and has a history of illegally hiding documents from the courts and the public about her record. These newly found Hillary Clinton records show the State Department needs special policing from the courts, federal investigators, and Congress. A separate and ongoing Judicial Watch lawsuit, one of nearly 23 active Judicial Watch lawsuits in which the Clinton email system is at issue, forced the disclosure last year of documents that provided a road map for over 200 conflict-of-interest rulings that led to $48 million for the Clinton Foundation and other Clinton-connected entities during Hillary Clinton's tenure as secretary of state. Previously disclosed documents in this lawsuit, for example, raise questions about funds Clinton accepted from entities linked to Saudi Arabia, China and Iran, among others. I wish I could tell you the State Department's explanation has arrived, but it has not. I expect it will come after hours in order to keep the new scandal out of the news. But we will spread the details far and wide, so be sure to check back here next week. Until next week... Tom Fitton President CAN WE REALLY AFFORD MORE OF OBAMA-CLINTONOMICS? America’s Economic Freedom Has Rapidly Declined Under Obama
Millions of people around the world are emerging from poverty thanks to rising economic freedom. But by sharp contrast, America’s economic freedom has been on a declining path over the past decade.
America’s declining score in the index is closely related to rapidly rising government spending, subsidies, and bailouts.According to the 2016 Index of Economic Freedom, an annual publication by The Heritage Foundation, America’s economic freedom has tumbled. With losses of economic freedom in eight of the past nine years, the U.S. has tied its worst score ever, wiping out a decade of progress. >>> Read the full 2016 Index of Economic Freedom
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Since early 2009:
It is painfully clear that our economy has been performing far below its potential, with individuals, families, and entrepreneurs being squeezed by the proliferation of big-government bureaucracy and regulations. >>> Related: America Mired Below Top 10 in Economic Freedom As documented by the index, and by other scholars, America’s economic freedom has been declining at an alarming pace. Indeed, as The Wall Street Journal recently summed it up succinctly, Obama is “a champion when it comes to limiting economic freedom, and American workers have the slow growth in jobs and wages to prove it.” Not surprisingly, our economic dynamism and innovative capacity have been measurably reduced.Not surprisingly, our economic dynamism and innovative capacity have been measurably reduced. Self-inflicted wounds include:
Worse, vibrant entrepreneurial growth has been stymied by greater policy uncertainty and mounting debt. And a disturbing trend toward cronyism has gravely eroded the rule of law and distorted our free-market system. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, keynote speaker of the official release of the 2016 Index, recently stated: It’s been almost seven years since the Obama “recovery” began, and our economy is barely out of neutral. Why does America have to settle for this?Restoring economic freedom is prerequisite to revitalizing and brightening America’s future. 2016 is the year to reaffirm the principles of limited government, free enterprise, and rule of law so that we can reconstitute an America where freedom, opportunity, and prosperity flourish. The time to act is now. |
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