" ... the State Department acknowledged Friday that 22 messages stored on the server contain top secret information.
Clinton has long denied any of the messages that went through the unprotected server in her home contained highly sensitive material. The State Department said none of the messages were marked top secret at the time they were sent -- although it is looking into whether they should have been.
The administration refused to discuss the contents of the messages, which it acknowledged hours before the latest batch of about 1,000 pages of Clinton email is to be disclosed publicly. The messages marked top secret are being excluded from the disclosure. LA Times
------------------
Attention pilgrims! US Classified information comes in levels of secureness: The lowest - Confidential, the middling secret - Secret, the good stuff - Top Secret. Then above that or parallel to... are various "code word" compartments.
So, we are talking abut the Good Stuff.
This disclosure AT THE STATE DEPARTMENT by John Kirby puts the Obama/Sanders meeting of a couple of days ago in an interesting light. It seems that Sanders was asked to come to the meeting on short notice. One wonders if the government provided the transportation for the trip from St. Paul, Minnesota 1500 miles away.
IMO this is the crack of doom for the HC campaign. We are talking multiple felony charges here folks. Anyone who thinks the FBI will not continue to leak over this whole phenomenon is kidding himself.
One of the things that puzzles me about this has to do with Bill Clinton. He had to know and he let her do this to herself?
It seems likely that Bernie (Mr. Clean) Sanders will succeed to the nomination. pl
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-clinton-email-20160129-story.html
Colonel,
Having top secret classified government information on your server at home is ignorant, stupid; plus unlawful. Hillary Clinton’s e-mails are not an isolated case. There has been a cascade of SNAFUs since 9/11.
Two recent screw ups that do not involve national security are New Jersey closing off lanes on George Washington Bridge for days snarling traffic and risking public safety. Another is using Flint River water without treating it to prevent the leaching out of lead.
The basic characteristic of all are ignoring the known consequences, contempt of the under-classes, and avoiding jail time. This is not happenstance. This is how to get rich in the new world order.
Posted by: VietnamVet | 29 January 2016 at 06:55 PM
Too late for Joe Biden (as Democratic Party nominee), but just right for independent billionaire Michael Bloomberg?
Posted by: greg0 | 29 January 2016 at 06:57 PM
Col: As it should be. The Rule of Law must matter.
Posted by: Matthew | 29 January 2016 at 06:57 PM
Sir
I'm really at a loss to understand why Hillary was so keen not to use her State Dept. email service. The only speculation I can come up with is that her prior experience led her to want a completely private service giving her plausible deniability. But....that didn't work out as the FBI has her mail.
In any case it would seem that the best that can happen for the Democrats is that she is indicted and withdraws. If she is not indicted and continues with the campaign and wins the nomination, it will be a godsend for Trump. He will eviscerate her and the Obama DoJ throughout the campaign. And if she wins in November (which I seriously doubt), the Republicans will impeach her.
She is hopefully done and we won't have more drama than we need. Hubris and an extraordinary sense of entitlement I feel played a big role in her undoing.
Posted by: Jack | 29 January 2016 at 07:11 PM
The Wicked Witch of the West is in increasing danger from that prowling beast. She needs to learn how to copy this woman, Anna Breytenbach, if she is to tame it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvwHHMEDdT0
Posted by: cynic | 29 January 2016 at 07:13 PM
A New York Post article Sunday indicated that some Clinton emails included Sensitive Compartmented Information and Special Access Program information. I read earlier this evening that the emails being withheld entirely, not just redacted, contained such information.
Posted by: Joe100 | 29 January 2016 at 07:15 PM
Hubris and karma, all wrapped in one neat package. How will the proto-oligarch Clintons prosper if HRC melts down yet again? How will Chelsea ascend to her thrown if mom is in ruins? (Smirk) I truly did think the President was bracing Bernie for some post Hillary leverage. Perhaps I was right.
Posted by: BabelFish | 29 January 2016 at 07:36 PM
Perhaps someone here can tell me, how does a SCIF operate?
She stated at the Benghazi hearings her house contains a SCIF. If the server were contained within the SCIF, would anything else matter?
Posted by: a a | 29 January 2016 at 07:46 PM
Guess she's finally feeling the Burn.
Posted by: Fred | 29 January 2016 at 07:48 PM
Well... the idea of ex post facto might be relevant here. The documents were apparently unclassified when they went into the server and when Clinton was diddling with them. After the documents were "discovered" in one server or another, they were reviewed by someone, hopefully in the Community and not just the FBI. It was then that a mis-classification was determined. I've been on both ends of this equation, writing and then classifing formal assessments as well as more timely "reports from the field;" also the declass process. The whole procedure is fraught with darkness and fog.
To me, the situation is comparable to Hillary walking around the house and gardens in the nude and then getting bent out of shape when photos surface. The whole server issue demonstrates an unacceptable degree of brain-death and a belief that the Clinton magic can be transferred by marriage.
Posted by: PirateLaddie | 29 January 2016 at 07:54 PM
New York Times, Friday, January 29, 2016 by Steven Lee Myers–
“Mr. Kirby said that none of the emails had been marked at any level of classification at the time they were sent through Mrs. Clinton’s computer server, which she kept in her home.”
The Washington Post, Friday, January 29, 2016 by Rosalind S. Helderman and Carol Morello --
“Kirby said the State Department has not yet made a determination of whether the information was classified at the time it was sent or has become more sensitive due to subsequent events.”
?
Posted by: Doug Tunnell | 29 January 2016 at 07:57 PM
Better than the Blomberg-Fritsch affair. HRC indicted?
That sure would blow up our primary season.
I've always been a Democrat, but despised HRC. If this does her in, it's OK by me.
Posted by: A. Pols | 29 January 2016 at 07:57 PM
I'm melting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7GJcKuVGm8
Posted by: steve | 29 January 2016 at 08:05 PM
I have no expertise in this area of law but I'm curious what you-all think of the Clinton camp's assertion that the "Top Secret" items were so designated after the fact?
Posted by: divadab | 29 January 2016 at 08:18 PM
You may be correct about the law and the seriousness of Clinton's decision, but I risk saying that if she wins in Iowa, this will go away. The FBI? How often do they really call our attention to breeches in the law or national security. Political snafus, yes, but depending on which way the wind is blowing....hence Iowa, New Hampshire, So. Carolina and thereafter.
Posted by: Margaret Steinfels | 29 January 2016 at 09:27 PM
Didn't Biden have two meetings with Barack? Before and after the Bern. Not a coincidence me thinks.
Won't be long now.
Posted by: doug | 29 January 2016 at 09:52 PM
The claim is that the documents were *not classified* at the time that they were sent, but have been classified retroactively:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/01/29/the-state-department-concludes-there-is-top-secret-material-in-hillary-clintons-email-correspondence-from-her-time-as-secretary-of-state/
Posted by: bks | 29 January 2016 at 10:05 PM
For the arrogant Michael Bloomberg to come out recently and say he has had people researching the matter of running for president as an independent means that he has been getting inside information. About what? Probably about all of it: the Hillary Clinton campaign, what the FBI has been doing, and what Obama is thinking on the issue of criminal charges.
It stands to reason that Bloomberg with his contacts and sources would get inside information. Plus, he loves spying and surveillance, and, being part of the Wall Street group, when he was mayor they set up the "Lower Manhattan Security Initiative" to do surveillance of people who are not committing crimes. This was/is done with financial people and other private persons sitting along with the NY police in this "security coordination center"--
http://wallstreetonparade.com/wall-street-firms-spy-on-protesters-in-tax-funded-center/
Although I think this Bloomberg activity means things are heating up regarding Hillary, it does not mean an indictment will happen.
Posted by: robt willmann | 29 January 2016 at 10:07 PM
Will it in this case?
Posted by: FB Ali | 29 January 2016 at 11:08 PM
Wondered same thing when I saw the headline. Maybe this is why the White House interview and why Bernie was so distracted/preoccupied when he spoke with the press.
But are the Clintons that stupid? CorpsMedia misleaders would not be playing word games ...would they?
22 "messages contain top secret information" is not necessarily the same thing as downloading documents designated top secret.
these messages referred to as "marked top secret" -- when were they labeled top secret?
also when was the now top secret information labeled top secret - before or after it were downloaded?
Dumb questions - still no idea how secret stuff works in spite of the fact it has been discussed here a lot (not paying attention).
Posted by: rjj | 29 January 2016 at 11:26 PM
Best way to destroy Bernie's appeal would be to anoint/endorse him.
Posted by: rjj | 29 January 2016 at 11:30 PM
It was reported in an earlier article, discussed on SST, that Clinton told an underling at State to remove the TOP SECRET heading before sending the email
Ckinton's defense on the news tonight was that the emails didn't say TS. The Democrats are backing that up:
"It has never made sense to me that Secretary Clinton can be held responsible for email exchanges that originated with someone else,” said Feinstein, who has endorsed Clinton. “The only reason to hold Secretary Clinton responsible for emails that didn't originate with her is for political points, and that's what we’ve seen over the past several months."
If this defense works, she will look sympathetically harassed instead of guilty. But releasing this info three days before Iowa appears like some people at State and FBI think she's unfit for office. That's the problem with treating people like sh!t.
Posted by: optimax | 29 January 2016 at 11:33 PM
If Obama and the DOJ handle the Clinton case like the Petraeus case, and I bet they will, Clinton will be indicted, both for the emails and for lying to Congress.
Since she is stalling the release of the emails, one question is when the indictments will be handed down. The nightmare scenario for the Democrats is that she will be indicted after Sanders withdraws and she has the nomination. What happens then? What if she's indicted in June? Or July? What if she refuses to withdraw after she's indicted? There are many people who will support her even if she's indicted. If she wins the election, she controls the Justice Department and she won't prosecute herself.
Posted by: Carl Lazlo | 30 January 2016 at 12:15 AM
rjj
"In another recently released e-mail, Clinton instructed Sullivan to convert a classified document into an unclassified e-mail attachment by scanning it into an unsecured computer and sending it to her without any classified markings. “Turn into nonpaper w no identifying heading and send non-secure,” she ordered."" RJJ - I guess you missed this part in my earlier post. pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 30 January 2016 at 12:24 AM
Nope, this too goes down the memory hole. Nothing will interfere with the Clinton inevitable march to the White House.
Posted by: Bill H | 30 January 2016 at 01:05 AM