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eGhazi: Dan Metcalfe appears to be ill informed

So Dan Metcalfe is back at it again. The former FOIA person for the Justice Department, with an assist from Politico, continues to spout uniformed nonsense on eGhazi. Some examples:

We now have former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton being revealed as someone who took the unprecedented step of arranging to use her personal email account for all of her official email communications.

But didn't Colin Powell do the same thing? I'm sure I read it somewhere. Why yes, here it is in, um, Politico:

Like Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of State Colin Powell also used a personal email account during his tenure at the State Department, an aide confirmed in a statement.“He was not aware of any restrictions nor does he recall being made aware of any over the four years he served at State,” the statement says. “He sent emails to his staff generally via their State Department email addresses. These emails should be on the State Department computers. He might have occasionally used personal email addresses, as he did when emailing to family and friends.”

Not quite so "unprecedented" Mr. Metcalfe. And Powell was on your watch. But maybe Powell did something different? Metcalfe says:

[T]he Federal Records Act’s documentation and preservation requirements still called upon that official (or a staff assistant) to forward any such email into the State Department’s official records system, where it would have been located otherwise. This appears to be exactly what former Secretary of State Colin Powell did during his tenure, just as other high-level government officials may do (or are supposed to do) under such exceptional circumstances during their times in office. [. .. .]

It also is what Hillary Clinton did. Indeed, Clinton went one better than Powell, by retaining the records. Powell said:

“He did not take any hard copies of emails with him when he left office and has no record of the emails.

Indeed, perhaps Mr. Metcalfe can find Powell's e-mails for him.

But Metcalfe continues with his ignorance and crackpotism:

OK, please now tell us, Secretary Clinton, exactly which “federal guideline” (even one will do, notwithstanding your claim of plurality) makes it “clear” that you can unilaterally decide, dispositively and with such finality, which of your work-related records are “personal” and which ones are not[.]

Um 5 FAM 544.3.2 Mr. Metcalfe?

E-mail message creators and recipients must decide whether a particular message is appropriate for preservation.

Now Mr. Metcalfe has had weeks at this point to familiarize himself with regulations he apparently had no notion of when he was DOJ's "head honcho" on FOIA. Clearly he did not. And just as clearly, he is an incompetent crackpot. Shame on Politico for publishing his drivel.

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    I couldn't take it anymore (5.00 / 1) (#10)
    by Militarytracy on Tue Mar 17, 2015 at 08:37:37 AM EST
    I had to hit CNNs facebook page about not reporting all facts.  They are cherry picking what they report, exactly as they did to the run up of that Iraq War.  They practice yellow journalism.

    Actually, (1.00 / 1) (#6)
    by jbindc on Tue Mar 17, 2015 at 08:02:05 AM EST
    But didn't Colin Powell do the same thing?

    Not quite.  Powell used his personal email, but he also used a government email account

    Link

    Have other politicians engaged in similar activities?

    Mrs Clinton is far from alone. Other politicians and officials - both in federal and state governments - sometimes have relied on personal email for official business. Colin Powell, secretary of state under President George W Bush, told ABC he used a personal email account while in office, including to correspond with foreign leaders.

    Outside of Washington, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush - a possible 2016 candidate for the US presidency - relied on a private email address (jeb@jeb.org). Like Mrs Clinton, he has selected which correspondence to make public.

    Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, also a Republican presidential aspirant, faced questions over his staff's use of private email addresses when he was Milwaukee County executive.

    Government Executive magazine conducted a poll in February 2015 of 412 high-level federal workers and found that 33% of those surveyed said they use personal email for government business "at least sometimes".

    Mrs Clinton differs from these examples not in manner but in extent - because she used her personal email address exclusively. And, unlike Mr Bush and Mr Walker, her actions were governed by federal law.

    Link 2

    WASHINGTON (AP) -- How Hillary Rodham Clinton's statements about her exclusive use of private email instead of a government account as secretary of state compare with the known facts:

    CLINTON: "Others had done it."

    THE FACTS: Although email practices varied among her predecessors, Clinton is the only secretary of state known to have conducted all official unclassified government business on a private email address. Years earlier, when emailing was not the ubiquitous practice it is now among high officials, Colin Powell used both a government and a private account. It's a striking departure from the norm for top officials to rely exclusively on private email for official business.



    False (5.00 / 2) (#8)
    by Big Tent Democrat on Tue Mar 17, 2015 at 08:21:47 AM EST
    Powell himself stated expressly he exclusively used personal e-mail.

    Parent
    From Powell's statement (none / 0) (#9)
    by Big Tent Democrat on Tue Mar 17, 2015 at 08:28:35 AM EST
    "A Powell aide confirmed that information, saying, "General Powell used a personal email account during his tenure as Secretary of State. He was not aware of any restrictions nor does he recall being made aware of any over the four years he served at State."

    He makes no mention WHATSOEVER of using a government e-mail.

    In fact, it is clear from his emphasis on how he transmitted to colleagues at their .gov accounts (sound familiar), he never used a .gov e-mail.

    Parent

    Kerry is the first (none / 0) (#15)
    by Mordiggian 88 on Tue Mar 17, 2015 at 09:02:56 AM EST
    SOS to have a .gov account.

    Why does jbindc  feel compelled to disseminate lies about this issue?  Is it because she has HDS?

    Parent

    HDS? (none / 0) (#20)
    by jbindc on Tue Mar 17, 2015 at 01:37:06 PM EST
    Hilarious, as I have been a Hillary supporter since 2007....

    Parent
    Sudden onset (none / 0) (#21)
    by Mordiggian 88 on Tue Mar 17, 2015 at 01:41:46 PM EST
    is a presenting symptom.

    Parent
    Nah (3.50 / 2) (#22)
    by jbindc on Tue Mar 17, 2015 at 01:46:06 PM EST
    You just don't understand complex thinking - like the fact that some people can sorry a politician, but not be blinded when they do something stupid.

    Blind loyalty may be for you, but if I'm gonna call BS on Republicans, then I should be willing to call BS on those I support too.

    Parent

    Can "support", not sorry (none / 0) (#23)
    by jbindc on Tue Mar 17, 2015 at 01:46:36 PM EST
    According to BTD (none / 0) (#26)
    by Mordiggian 88 on Tue Mar 17, 2015 at 01:54:06 PM EST
    she violated a regulation involving turning over stuff in a timely matter. I accept that, and if there are any fines involved she should be fined, she pay it, and that's that.

    Now, I'm  not defending that, but the thought of this being a blunder that could derail her candidacy is silly.  People are so surrounded by laws and regulations in their lives that they'll give her a pass on it, despite the Republican attempt to make hay out of it.

    That you can't see that is your misfortune, and none of my own.

    Parent

    There's no fines, no penalties, no nothing (none / 0) (#32)
    by Big Tent Democrat on Tue Mar 17, 2015 at 02:14:54 PM EST
    There's no where for this story to go UNLESS there is something damaging in the e-mails.

    NExt week you;ll here less about this.

    Even less the week after.

    Then nothing until the e-mails come out.

    Parent

    Talk to (none / 0) (#19)
    by jbindc on Tue Mar 17, 2015 at 01:35:55 PM EST
    The BBC, WaPo, NYT, etc.

    Powell absolutely DID NOT say he used personal email EXCLUSIVELY.

    Fail.

    Parent

    What Powell did say was that (5.00 / 1) (#25)
    by Anne on Tue Mar 17, 2015 at 01:52:23 PM EST
    any e-mails he sent to State Department personnel on state.gov accounts would be archived or preserved on its servers; if he had or used government e-mail, seems like he would have maybe mentioned that any e-mail sent to him or received by him on HIS government account would be on State's servers, no?

    He made no mention of a government account.  Never said, "well, in my case, I also had a government account and my practice was to..." or words to that effect.

    Parent

    Because he did not have one (4.00 / 3) (#31)
    by Big Tent Democrat on Tue Mar 17, 2015 at 02:13:36 PM EST
    This is obvious to anyone not willfully blind.

    Parent
    NYT? (none / 0) (#28)
    by Mordiggian 88 on Tue Mar 17, 2015 at 02:06:48 PM EST
    as they used to say on TV, You Asked for It:

    Contrary To Scandal Mongering, Precedent Exists For Secretaries of State To Use of Non-Official Email Accounts

    John Kerry Was Reportedly First Secretary Of State To Have A Government-Issued Email Account.

    The New York Times' Michael Schmidt, who wrote the Times' report on Clinton's use of personal email, appeared on the March 3 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe and stated that according to the State Department, "John Kerry is the first Secretary of State in the history of the United States to have a government email account." [MSNBC, Morning Joe, 3/3/15]

    Oh, and the next time, you should do FAIL!

    Ty.

    Parent

    He said he used a private email (none / 0) (#30)
    by Big Tent Democrat on Tue Mar 17, 2015 at 02:12:19 PM EST
    He pointedly did NOT say he used a government e-mail.

    Fail on your part.

    Parent

    An rather incomplete account (5.00 / 1) (#11)
    by Mordiggian 88 on Tue Mar 17, 2015 at 08:42:19 AM EST
    of Scott Walker and his staff's e-mail shenanigans, compared to what really happened:

    For Walker, the issue flared in 2012, when it became public his team had heavily relied on private emails to conduct government business when he was county executive.Walker used both a county account and a campaign account to discuss government business, records show.

    A probe into Walker's aides and associates when he was county executive netted six convictions. Among them were Darlene Wink and Kelly Rindfleisch, who were convicted to doing political work out of Walker's office; Wink was convicted of two misdemeanors and Rindfleisch one felony.

    The criminal complaint against Rindfleisch revealed what prosecutors called a "secret email system" that was "routinely used by selected insiders within the Walker administration" for county business and campaign work.

    "In the course of the investigation, it was learned that a private email network was established and operated out of the county executive's office and that the private network was used to communicate both political campaign and government-related information to select individuals," Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, who led the investigation, said at the time.

    A private router was installed in the county executive's suite of offices by Timothy Russell when he was Walker's deputy chief of staff. Rusell's office was less than 25 feet from Walker's.



    Parent
    Isn't drivel Politico's stock-in-trade? (none / 0) (#1)
    by Anne on Mon Mar 16, 2015 at 09:16:40 PM EST
    It's the reason why Charlie Pierce has a regular feature titled, "Things in Politico That Make Me Want to Guzzle Antifreeze, Part the Infinity."

    I've come to the unfortunate conclusion that the majority of people don't read past the headline, don't question the content, and so go through their days believing that the 15-second "news" reports and 3-graf articles they snack on are giving them a full and factual account of what's going on.

    And Politico isn't the only outlet that takes advantage of that.

    Politico isn't just drivel, Anne. (5.00 / 2) (#3)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Mon Mar 16, 2015 at 11:50:38 PM EST
    It's THE place to go for malicious rumors, anonymously-sourced innuendo and old-fashioned fact-free speculation about all things Beltway, which is likely why Mr. Pierce bestowed upon them the derisive moniker, "Tiger Beat On the Potomac."

    I'm just glad that someone else reads them, so I don't have to.

     

    Parent

    I also let Pierce... (5.00 / 1) (#40)
    by unitron on Wed Mar 18, 2015 at 09:07:02 AM EST
    ...watch the Sunday morning shows for me.

    It works out so much better that way.

    Parent

    Agreed (none / 0) (#2)
    by Militarytracy on Mon Mar 16, 2015 at 10:42:57 PM EST


    Perfect! (none / 0) (#4)
    by oculus on Tue Mar 17, 2015 at 12:49:08 AM EST


    Oh, there's so much (none / 0) (#5)
    by Ga6thDem on Tue Mar 17, 2015 at 06:39:49 AM EST
    BS it's becoming comedic gold.

    Okay fine (none / 0) (#7)
    by jimakaPPJ on Tue Mar 17, 2015 at 08:21:28 AM EST
    Others had a personal account and a government account.  Bad.

    Hillary had a personal account and a personal server.

    Bad Bad.

    Two wrongs do not make a right.

    Admit that, demand that Hillary say whether she signed SOF 192 and I'll let the dogs out on Powell.

    The point is (5.00 / 1) (#12)
    by FlJoe on Tue Mar 17, 2015 at 08:54:12 AM EST
    there are NOT two wrongs there. The rules/laws at the time allowed them to use their own e-mail.

    Parent
    "Two wrongs?" (5.00 / 4) (#13)
    by Anne on Tue Mar 17, 2015 at 08:57:56 AM EST
    jim, neither of those was wrong, according to government regulations/rules/policies at the time.

    And your getting this wrong over and over and over again doesn't make you right, either.

    Parent

    The GOP (none / 0) (#14)
    by Ga6thDem on Tue Mar 17, 2015 at 09:02:35 AM EST
    has already ceded the 2016 it would seem.

    Yes...they are moving right into (none / 0) (#16)
    by ruffian on Tue Mar 17, 2015 at 11:53:27 AM EST
    attack and de-legitimize the Clinton presidency mode. Why waste time?

    Parent
    Right now (none / 0) (#17)
    by Ga6thDem on Tue Mar 17, 2015 at 12:08:58 PM EST
    it's all about margins and getting people like Jim to show up and vote for Bob Dole...er Sharia Bush. I mean they can't possibly hold Sharia's email situation against him now can they?

    Either than or they're just going to give up and run one of the nut bags out there.

    Either way the end result is the same.

    Parent

    I think everyone has used email at work enough (5.00 / 1) (#18)
    by ruffian on Tue Mar 17, 2015 at 01:14:19 PM EST
    by now to realize it is not how/where major decisions get made. There is just no outrage about missing emails - no one expects to find some 'smoking gun' or even much of historical interest in emails.

    I think it is a case of government regulations catching up with the technology of 20 years ago.

    Parent

    Pretty much (none / 0) (#24)
    by Ga6thDem on Tue Mar 17, 2015 at 01:47:06 PM EST
    haha (none / 0) (#27)
    by CST on Tue Mar 17, 2015 at 01:54:54 PM EST
    tell that to Sony :)

    Parent
    I think anyone thinking that (5.00 / 2) (#29)
    by nycstray on Tue Mar 17, 2015 at 02:06:57 PM EST
    HRC was as stupid as some of the Sony execs, will be sadly disappointed :)

    Parent
    oh I agree (5.00 / 1) (#33)
    by CST on Tue Mar 17, 2015 at 02:18:38 PM EST
    I think the biggest problem the GOP or whoever have making this scandal stick is that it's not basic/simple/stupid.  You start talking about using the wrong e-mail server and blah blah people's eyes glaze over and no one cares.  Now, if she'd sent someone naked selfies like our dear congressman Wiener did... THAT would be an email scandal :)

    Parent
    Well, true..exception to the rule! (none / 0) (#34)
    by ruffian on Tue Mar 17, 2015 at 02:47:07 PM EST
    Those folks are chatty!

    Parent
    Differences (none / 0) (#35)
    by thomas rogan on Tue Mar 17, 2015 at 07:39:38 PM EST
    1.  Colin Powell is not running for president.  
    2.  Hillary and Bill have a bit of a characterological flaw of making up their own rules and lying.  This reinforces the perception that she is just another Nixon.
    3.  Is there NO Democrat brave enough to enter the race?  No one better qualified either by running a state or by being a party leader (as Lyndon Johnson or even Jerry Ford)?


    The other difference (none / 0) (#36)
    by Yman on Tue Mar 17, 2015 at 09:57:48 PM EST
    The original article isn't full of silly, wingnut talking points.

    Parent
    In a word, no. (none / 0) (#37)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Mar 18, 2015 at 08:29:45 AM EST
    There are no Demos who, like the Repubs who went to Nixon and told him to resign, will go to Hillary and tell her that she must withdraw.

    So now that they know that Hillary did not sign OF-109 they immediately start claiming equivalency. Rice didn't and Powell didn't.

    Of course even it is the same, which it is not, three wrongs do not make a right.

    Hillary had a private server and deleted some 30,000 emails. Powell and Rice are not accused of this.

    Now Powell and Rice both had private email accounts on their government supplied computers operating on the government's supplied system. Thousands of people in the business world do the same and I would bet that many government employees do the same. They have two accounts on the company's system. The difference is, they know that the company has the right to review anything on the system.   And in today's world many systems automatically back up ALL files when deleted. And even if not backed up a forensic IT person can find everything on the employee's hard drive unless it has been erased by a program that is designed to make the contents unrecoverable.

    To get around this, many people use their own computers/phones for private information. To get information from those the owner must agree or a court order is required.

    It would be interesting to know what level of deletion Hillary used. My guess she used a system designed for 35 overwrites which should thwart all current recovery programs. Simply put she has mixed classified information with personal and is violation of the law. Her actions prove it.

    Remember, she was around during Watergate. She knew what 18 minutes of tape can do. So she knew what her emails could do. So she erased them.

    Parent

    Dude... (5.00 / 2) (#38)
    by ScottW714 on Wed Mar 18, 2015 at 08:49:02 AM EST
    ...comparing someone who hasn't even decided to run to a sitting President, and emails that broke no law to a burglary and so much more.

    Spot on.

    GD holy hell, I guess desperate times call for desperate measures. But do you have to try so hard to prove that your party is incapable of rational thought.

    Parent

    Jim, I'm giving you credit (5.00 / 3) (#39)
    by fishcamp on Wed Mar 18, 2015 at 08:56:07 AM EST
    for your imagination...

    Parent
    What law or regulation did Hillary break? (5.00 / 1) (#41)
    by Mordiggian 88 on Wed Mar 18, 2015 at 09:13:44 AM EST
    Until you can specify what she did wrong, you are just spouting hot air.

    Parent