The founding director of the Justice Department's Office of Information and Privacy says former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s email excuses are “deceptive,” “grossly misleading” and impossible to verify, according to CBC News.
Daniel Metcalfe, who the publication describes as the “senior-most freedom-of-information official in the executive branch of the United States government for over a quarter-century,” dissected Clinton’s recent press conference regarding the scandal and argued her use of the private email account was “contrary to both the letter and the spirit of the law.”
Hillary Clinton. (AP Photo/Molly Riley)
"There is no doubt that the scheme she established was a blatant circumvention of the Freedom of Information Act, atop the Federal Records Act,” Metcalfe said.
Lest you think Metcalfe’s scathing review is political in nature, we must note he is a registered Democrat. He told CBC News he was embarrassed to work for former President George W. Bush and he also served in the Clinton administration.
Metcalfe took an unyielding stance on Clinton’s decision to set up a private email system during her tenure at the State Department.
"You can't have the secretary of state do that; that's just a prescription for the circumvention of the FOIA. Plus, fundamentally, there's no way the people at the archives should permit that if you tell them over there,” he added.
Clinton admitted to deleting roughly half of the 60,000 emails, which she claimed were all “personal.” But if a staffer would’ve told Metcalfe that they would be setting up a private email account and deciding which emails would get deleted, he said he would’ve replied, “You've gotta be kidding me.”
Metcalfe also called it “laughable” that a government official should be able to unilaterally decide which emails are personal and which are official.
Read CBC News' full report here.
