Hillary Clinton Speaks at the Opening of State Department Pavilion

Hillary Clinton returned to Washington, DC on Tuesday for the opening of a new exhibition area in the State Department’s museum. Named in her honor, The Hillary Clinton Pavilion marks the completion of another section of the U.S. Diplomacy Center. Clinton was joined at the event by Secretary of State John Kerry and former Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright and Colin Powell. Clinton spoke briefly about the important work of the museum and its exciting future saying, “I’m excited about the historic artifacts and the cutting-edge exhibits that will be here to teach and inspire future generations about the work of our country’s diplomats. Students and visitors alike will be able to simulate high-stakes diplomatic negotiation, learn more about resolving disputes in our increasingly interconnected and interdependent world.” Watch a video of Clinton’s speech below.

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.

News Source: The Washington Post, Politico

Six Key Developments Today On Trump, WikiLeaks, And Russia

Hillary for America Senior Policy Advisor Jake Sullivan released the following statement today after news reports by Esquire and Motherboard confirmed for the first time publicly that Russia is behind the hack of John Podesta’s emails. Also, according to Esquire, Guccifer told journalists that he gave the DNC emails to WikiLeaks:

“The new public data confirming the Russians are behind the hack of John Podesta’s email is a big deal. There is no longer any doubt that Putin is trying to help Donald Trump by weaponizing WikiLeaks. Despite all the evidence, including the conclusions of the US intelligence community, Donald Trump went on the debate stage and acted as Putin’s puppet, defending Russia and refusing to admit and condemn the Kremlin’s actions. This behavior has gone from bizarre to disqualifying. In light of his associate’s admitted ‘back-channeling’ with Assange, and Trump’s own undisclosed business ties with Russia, it’s time for Trump to tell the American people what he knew about these hacks and when he knew it.”

According to Esquire:

“In the weeks that followed, Guccifer offered interviews and batches of documents to several journalists, but he wrote that “the main part of the papers, thousands of files and mails, I gave to WikiLeaks.”

“So far U. S. investigators have not said publicly who was responsible for the Podesta hack, but the data harvested by SecureWorks makes it clear that Fancy Bear broke into the Clinton chairman’s account as early as late March. The CIA briefed Trump about the origin of the kompromat, but he continued to cite the material, telling a Pennsylvania crowd, “I love WikiLeaks!”

According to Motherboard:

Months later, on October 9, WikiLeaks began publishing thousands of Podesta’s hacked emails. Almost everyone immediately pointed the finger at Russia, who is suspected of being behind a long and sophisticated hacking campaign that has the apparent goal of influencing the upcoming US elections. But there was no public evidence proving the same group that targeted the Democratic National Committee was behind the hack on Podesta—until now.

The data linking a group of Russian hackers—known as Fancy Bear, APT28, or Sofacy—to the hack on Podesta is also yet another piece in a growing heap of evidence pointing toward the Kremlin. And it also shows a clear thread between apparently separate and independent leaks that have appeared on a website called DC Leaks, such as that of Colin Powell’s emails; and the Podesta leak, which was publicized on WikiLeaks.

Six Key Developments Today On Trump, WikiLeaks, And Russia

1. Esquire published a deep dive on the full extent of Russia’s unprecedented hacking campaign to influence the U.S. election, including new details about the operation.

2. Motherboard confirmed that government-backed Russian hackers were behind the cyberattack on John Podesta’s emails, publicly detailing new, undeniable evidence.

3. Politico documented Trump’s haunting propensity for defending Putin’s crimes. Beyond the cyberattacks, Trump defended Putin in the killing of journalists, the assassination of a former Russian spy, and the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17.

4. Dallas Morning News reported that Trump had been personally briefed by House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul that Russia was behind these cyberattacks before he debate, in which he again denied their culpability.

5. Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said on MSNBC this morning that she was completely comfortable with the campaign exploiting documents that were stolen by Russian agents.

6. Former director of the NSA and CIA, Michael Hayden, told NBC News: “[Trump] reject[ed] a high confidence judgment from the American intelligence community that the Russians are breaking in to DNC emails. That’s troubling on two counts. First, what will it take for him to criticize Russia? And second, here is a man who would be president, rejecting an intelligence judgment because it is politically inconvenient.”

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Also, be sure to subscribe to the campaign’s official Podcast, With Her.

Clinton Responds to State Department Report Criticizing Private Email Use

Earlier this week, the State Department Inspector General released the findings of their investigation into the state of department email security, including Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server during her tenure as Secretary of State. The report is critical of Clinton’s decision to exclusively use a private email address and not one that was government issues. The report said that Clinton did not seek approval before using an alternate email address, and the Inspector General said that she did not follow proper procedures in turning over all work related email before leaving the State Department. All emails have since been turned over.

The report is also critical of the State Department admitting that the current policies for record preservation are outdated and the technology is outdated as well. The report mentions former Secretaries of State that used private email addresses and failed to turn over any work related content. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell also used a personal email address to conduct government business, but he has stated that he is unable to turn over records because they no longer exist. While Clinton is not the first Secretary of State to use a private email address to conduct business, she is the first to exclusively use a private server.

Clinton and team immediately responded, and she spoke to several news outlets by phone to address the report. Clinton spoke with reporters from Univision, ABC, MSNBC, and CNN, all of which asked a number of questions surrounding the report and its findings. Clinton, once again, admitted that using a private email server was a mistake, but she quickly turned the conversation to the election and Republican nominee Donald Trump. Speaking with Chuck Todd on MSNBC’s Meet the Press Daily, she said, “I said this many times, it was still a mistake. If I could go back, I would do it differently. And I understand people have concerns about this, but I hope and expect voters to look at the full picture of everything I’ve done and stand for. And the full threat posed by Donald Trump. If they do, I have faith in the American people that they will make the right choice.”

The State Department’s review is the first report regarding her emails to be released. A report from the FBI is expected to be released sometime this summer. A full copy of the State Department’s report can be read HERE. Clinton has said on several occasions that she wants the emails from her private server available to the public in the interest of transparency. The State Department released the final batch of emails at the end of February. Since the release of the emails was part of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), all the emails were posted to the State Department’s FOIA website. To access the emails, follow the steps below:

1. Go to http://foia.state.gov/Search
2. Type “F-2014-20439” in the Case Number field
3. Click on the arrow next to the “Posted Date” column header and select “Sort Descending” so that the recently released documents show first
4. Click the title of the document in the “Subject” field to open a PDF copy

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

News Source: The New York Times, The Washington Post, Business Insider, CNN, Politico