A topic of controversy flooding America’s TV screens in the recent months is Hilary Clinton’s email scandal.
Clinton was put under investigation for the deletion of thousands of emails and handling “confidential” information on a personal email and a personal server, while she held the position of Secretary of State.
As Secretary of State, Clinton’s responsibilities should have been handled on State Department email addresses and technology.
After much controversy and public discussion, the FBI began an official investigation of Hillary Clinton’s emails and servers.
Concluding the investigation on July 5, James B. Comey, the FBI director, announced the verdict of the investigation against Hillary Clinton. In his statement, Comey announced that Clinton would face no criminal charges.
“If she [Clinton] is doing things like that already and getting away with it, who knows what she will be capable of doing if she becomes President,” junior criminology major Megan McLoughlin said.
In his statement, Comey broke down what was discovered throughout the year-long investigation.
An article, published by The New York Times, laid out the entirety of the FBI’s findings and the terms of the given verdict.
The FBI obtained 30,000 emails from Clinton. Out of those thousands of emails, 110 emails, both sent and received, held information that was deemed classified.
An additional “several thousand” emails were also handed over to the State Department. Those several thousand were not a part of the initial 30,000 emails. Of the additional emails, only three contained classified information.
After those findings, Mr. Comey voiced that he did not think Hillary Clinton practiced deliberate withholding or deletion of emails from those conducting the investigation.
“I think a more important question is why is this non intentional security breach such a big issue at this time,” Kathleen M. McKinely, chair of the sociology and criminology department at Cabrini University, said. “The FBI ruling was made because the evidence indicated there was no criminal intent or willful mishandling of information in her case. After acknowledging that there was no intent, Comey stated, ‘Our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case.’” McKinley earned a BA from Immaculata College, and an MA and PhD from the University of Pennsylvania.
Hillary Clinton’s opponent in the campaign to become the next president of the United States of America, Donald Trump, published a tweet vocalizing his discontent with the FBI’s outcome.
“Also, be clear, the FBI is led by Comey who had claimed he is a Republican and who has given money to the campaigns of Mitt Romney and John McCain. I just don’t think he would rush to judgment on this to help out a Democratic candidate,” McKinely said.
“I don’t agree with the charges, she’s getting away with federal crimes just because she is a running candidate – the conclusion doesn’t follow the law at all, she’s getting away with a crime just because she’s Hillary Clinton, but if that was someone else, they would be put away immediately,” McLoughlin said.
Many fear that this investigation is a distraction to the campaign and what should remain important and precedent.
“With an upcoming election it was important that the federal agencies move quickly and not allow unsubstantiated political claims to be used to interfere with the political process,” McKinely said.
