Hillary Clinton's Email Troubles Deepen

The official term for “above top secret” is “Shit the Russians read off @HillaryClinton‘s server in real-time.”

— Stephen Green (@VodkaPundit) January 19, 2016

Keep in mind when you read this bit from NBC News, that anything on Hillary Clinton’s homebrew (and unsecured) server was likely on Vladimir Putin’s desk in short order:

Emails from Hillary Clinton’s home server contained information classified at levels higher than previously known, including a level meant to protect some of the most sensitive U.S. intelligence, according to a document obtained by NBC News. In a letter to lawmakers, the intelligence community’s internal watchdog says some of Clinton’s emails contained information classified Top Secret/Special Access Program, a secrecy designation that includes some of the most closely held U.S. intelligence matters. Two American intelligence officials tell NBC News these are not the same two emails from Clinton’s server that have long been reported as containing information deemed Top Secret.

How many secrets did Clinton spill? Lots more than she’s let on:

Charles McCulllough, the intelligence community’s inspector general, said in a letter to the chairmen of the Senate intelligence and foreign affairs committees that he has received sworn declarations from an intelligence agency he declined to name. The declarations cover “several dozen emails containing classified information determined by the IC element to be at the CONFIDENTIAL, SECRET and TOP SECRET/SAP information.”

How secret were those secrets? This secret:

An intelligence official familiar with the matter told NBC News that the special access program in question was so sensitive that McCullough and some of his aides had to receive clearance to be read in on it before viewing the sworn declaration about the Clinton emails.

Russian hackers presumably had no such hurdles to clear. How bad are the politics? Even Clinton’s people are in Full Bore Panic Mode. And if Clinton walks from this? Roger L. Simon pondered that one:

The most obvious part is that the rule of law will have, for all intents and purposes, ended in the United States. Equal justice flew out the window. How does the public react to that? A good portion of it will roll over, but a certain percentage will not. Their reactions will be contingent on a number of things — whether Clinton is elected anyway (unlikely at this point, but possible), the steadfastness of opposition politicians and media, etc. But in the final analysis, a democracy cannot exist without the consent of the governed. For that percentage in opposition, consent will have broken down pretty much completely. Then what? Civil war? That’s perhaps a bit excessive, but civil wars can be of various types and evolve in different ways. All kinds of things could break down, which could result in anything from general disobedience to the law to mass tax refusal. Millions would no longer respect the system.

I’ll leave the last word to our Alternate History Ben Franklin.