Conservative Review - DeSantis: Hillary's Emails Are A National Security Disaster

Op-Ed

This week, the State Department released thousands of pages of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's emails. Many of them were related to her day-to-day operations, but approximately 125 were redacted because they contained classified information -- information that should never have been sent over an unsecured connection.

While serving in places like Iraq and the Guantanamo Bay detention facility during my time as an active-duty officer in the Navy, I handled classified information as a matter of course. It should not surprise anyone that the compromise of confidential information regarding matters of military capabilities, operational tactics or security posture can immediately endanger men and women who are risking their lives on behalf of our country. Apparently, that was a risk Hillary Clinton was willing to take during her time as Secretary of State, as she recklessly allowed sensitive information to be disseminated to and from an unsecured server in her private home. She made a deliberate choice to risk the integrity of her communications -- and of our nation's security -- simply so she could shield herself from public accountability and congressional oversight.

At least two of the emails that passed through Clinton's unsecured server were found to contain intelligence classified as Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information. This is one of the highest levels of classification; by definition, the unauthorized disclosure of Top Secret information causes exceptionally grave damage to national security.

While Clinton maintains that she never sent or received any materials that were marked classified, that defense is immaterial to whether classified information was compromised. For one thing, the information that Clinton was dealing with on a daily basis came from important players in the intelligence and diplomatic communities and she either knew, or should have known, that the subject material was the type of sensitive and/or classified information that you'd never want to send over an unsecured server. In addition, the recently released emails demonstrate that Clinton was herself the originator of classified material, yet she sent this information via her unsecured server, including to Sidney Blumenthal, a Clinton crony who was not employed by the government and who lacked a security clearance.

Members of the military and our intelligence communities have been punished for infractions less severe. Secretary Clinton's cavalier attitude towards the importance of protecting confidential information is an insult to the service members who put their lives on the line to defend our nation. As a military officer, if I had sent sensitive information using a personal email address and expressed disdain at the laws that protect our nation's intelligence, I would have lost my commission, faced a court martial, and probably done time in a tiny room with bars at Fort Leavenworth.

Congress needs to take the compromise of classified information seriously and investigate the extent of the damage done. However, Hillary Clinton has taken great measures to avoid public disclosure of her emails, including deleting 32,000 emails and making attempts to permanently delete data off of the server. She's even joked about it.

Many Americans have come to expect this type of behavior from Washington. A system in which the political elites are not held accountable for conduct that would land the average citizen in prison is a rotten system -- and one that is far different from the type of republican government envisioned by the Founding Fathers.

Nobody is above the law, including Secretary Clinton. She needs to be held accountable for her mishandling of classified information and her attempts to stonewall a Congressional investigation.

This is a serious test of the republican character of our system of government.

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