Why don't you just post the statute that you think she has violated?
Alright. But I'm not trying the government's case, just telling you what might have been violated, per your question. Nor am I making any comments about the ability of Mrs. Clinton's former boss to put pen to paper and make the whole thing go away.
Anyway, based on what I've read (and I'm sure most people already know this), here are the various problem areas for Mrs. Clinton:
(1) 18 U.S.C. § 793 (Gathering, transmitting or losing defense information), § 798 (Disclosure of classified information). A federal prosecutor would naturally focus first on the most serious allegations: willfully transmitting and/or retaining Top Secret and Compartmented (TS/SCI) material using a private server system. The individual who transmits and the individual who receives and retains TS/SCI information on a private server jointly share the culpability for risking the compromise and exploitation of the information by hostile intelligence services. The prosecutor's charging document would likely include felony counts under 18 U.S.C. § 793 and under 18 U.S.C. § 798 against each transmitting individual as well as separate counts against each receiving/retaining individual. Violation of either provision of the U.S.C. cited above is a felony with a maximum prison term of ten years. The prohibited conduct is the insecure transmission of highly classified information, as well as the receipt and retention of highly classified information in an unapproved manner. The requisite
mens rea is the willful commission of the prohibited conduct and the knowledge that compromised information could result in prejudice or injury to the United States or advantage to any foreign nation. Proof of intent to disclose the classified information is not required.
(2) 18 U.S.C § 1924 (Unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material). If federal prosecutors are in a charitable mood and an accused person has been cooperative, the felony charges under 18 U.S.C. § 793 and 18 U.S.C. § 798 may be "pled-down" to a single or to multiple misdemeanor counts under 18 U.S.C. § 1924. A misdemeanor conviction would probably result in a period of probation and a less significant fine. The prohibited conduct is the unauthorized removal of classified information from government control or its retention in an unauthorized location. The
mens rea required is the intent to remove from government control or the intent to store the classified information in an unauthorized location.
(3) 18 U.S.C. § 2071(b) (Concealment, removal, or mutilation generally). To sustain a charge under 18 U.S.C. § 2071(b), a federal prosecutor need only prove that the accused transferred and held the only copies of official government records (whether classified or not), the very existence of which was concealed from government records custodians. The
mens rea required is that an accused knows that official government records were transferred or removed from the control of government records custodians. Violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2071(b) is a felony with a maximum prison term of three years.
(4) 18 U.S.C. § 641 (Public money, property or records). Like point #2. if the federal prosecutors are in a charitable mood and the accused has been cooperative, the felony charges under 18 U.S.C. § 2071(b) can be "pled down" to a misdemeanor under 18 U.S.C. § 641. The prohibited conduct is the conversion of official records (whether classified or not) to the accused’s exclusive use and the
mens rea is simply the intent to do so. Conviction on the lesser misdemeanor charge would likely result in a period of probation and the imposition of a fine.
(5) 18 U.S.C. § 1505 (Obstruction of proceedings before departments, agencies, and committees). If it can be proven that an accused destroyed, withheld, or concealed the existence of official records being sought under subpoena by a committee of Congress, the accused can be convicted of obstruction under 18 U.S.C. § 1505. The prohibited conduct includes destruction, concealment and withholding of documents, thereby impeding or obstructing the committee’s rightful pursuit of information. The
mens rea is knowledge of the committee’s interest in obtaining the official records in the accused’s custody or control. Violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1505 is a felony with a maximum prison term of five years.
(6) 18 U.S.C. § 1519 (Destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in federal investigations). If it can be proven that an accused knowingly concealed the existence of official records being sought by the Department of State Inspector General (DOS/IG) or by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), such accused can be convicted of obstruction. The prohibited conduct is the concealment and withholding of documents that impede or obstruct an investigation. The
mens rea is the intent to conceal or withhold. Violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1519 is a felony with a maximum prison term of twenty years.
(7) 18 U.S.C. § 1031 (Fraud against the United States), § 1343 (Fraud by wire, radio or television), § 1346 (Definition of "scheme or artifice to defraud"), § 371 (Conspiracy to defraud the United States). If it can be proven that an accused arranged for the Department of State to hire an Information Technology (IT) specialist to primarily administer and maintain a private server system owned by the accused, then the accused can be convicted of conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and probably wire fraud. The prohibited conduct is having the United States pay an employee salary and/or official travel funds for performing private services on behalf of accused. The
mens rea is simply the knowledge of the employee’s status as a public servant and that the government was not fully reimbursed for the costs to the government of such services. The wire fraud conviction can be sought if it can be proven that accused used electronic means of communication in undertaking such scheme or artifice to defraud.
(8 ) 18 U.S.C. § 371 (Conspiracy to commit a federal offense). If any accused and any third party can be proven to have colluded in any violation of federal, criminal law, then all involved can be charged with criminal conspiracy as well as being charged with the underlying offense.
(9) 44 U.S.C. § 3106 (Unlawful removal, destruction of records). "The head of each Federal agency shall notify the Archivist of any actual, impending, or threatened unlawful removal, defacing, alteration, or destruction of records in the custody of the agency of which he is the head that shall come to his attention, and with the assistance of the Archivist shall initiate action through the Attorney General for the recovery of records he knows or has reason to believe have been unlawfully removed from his agency, or from another Federal agency whose records have been transferred to his legal custody. In any case in which the head of the agency does not initiate an action for such recovery or other redress within a reasonable period of time after being notified of any such unlawful action, the Archivist shall request the Attorney General to initiate such an action, and shall notify the Congress when such a request has been made." The law requires heads of agencies, including the Department of State, to preserve and turn over all official correspondence and records to the National Archives. Mrs. Clinton failed to do that until after a Romanian hacker leaked her email correspondence with Sidney Blumenthal. Those emails were clearly official in nature, and not "private" like Mrs. Clinton would have us believe.
(10) The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Veterans for a Strong America has already filed a lawsuit against the State Department over potential violations of FOIA, specifically related to the Secretary's records from the night before and the day after the Benghazi incident. With the lawsuit, Veterans for a Strong America joins the government watchdog Judicial Watch and The Associated Press in challenging the State Department over its handling of FOIA requests for Clinton documents.
(11) Executive Order 13526. This order prescribes a uniform system for classifying, safeguarding, and declassifying national security information, including information relating to defense against transnational terrorism. By using a private email system, Secretary Clinton violated the Federal Records Act and the State Department’s Foreign Affairs Manual regarding records management, and worse, could have left classified and top secret documents vulnerable to cyber attack.
(12) The 2009 National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) § 1236.22. This states that "agencies that allow employees to send and receive official electronic mail messages using a system not operated by the agency must ensure that Federal records sent or received on such systems are preserved in the appropriate agency record keeping system." Mrs. Clinton's email messages appear to have been maintained outside the prescribed agency record keeping system.
