Pavlich: Hey, Hillary — ignorance is not a defense

Like many Americans late last week, I was on vacation soaking up the remaining minutes of summer, the congressional recess and a somewhat calm news cycle before the two-month push of the 2016 presidential election. 

Not surprisingly and in typical D.C. fashion, the FBI delayed the release of their long awaited report detailing the criminal investigation of Hillary Clinton’s private email servers on Friday afternoon — just hours before the last three-day weekend of summer. 

{mosads}Clinton was likely relieved about the timing, hoping it would get buried as voters went about enjoying the beach or getting ready for school, but the bombshell revelations in the report aren’t going away — not even a long weekend can wipe her email scandal clean. 

First, let’s start with the crime novel-like details of the report. 

Clinton used 13 devices — not one as she claimed — to send and receive top-secret, classified information. Many of the devices were carelessly lost by the former secretary of State or destroyed by Clinton staff with a hammer. A laptop and thumbdrive containing the entire email archive was sent through the mail by a Clinton Foundation staffer, but when the FBI requested it for investigation, it got “lost” during an office move.  

“Clinton stated that when her BlackBerry device malfunctioned, her aides would assist her in obtaining a new BlackBerry, and, after moving to a new device, her old SIM cards were disposed of by her aides,” the FBI report states. “[Clinton aides Huma] Abedin and [Monica] Hanley indicated the whereabouts of Clinton’s devices would frequently become unknown once she transitioned to a new device. [Clinton aide Justin] Cooper did recall two instances where he destroyed Clinton’s old mobile devices by breaking them in half or hitting them with a hammer.” 

Next a dose of BleachBit, a computer program used to wipe hard drives, was used to dowse Clinton’s server just two weeks after The New York Times busted her for using a private server, which the FBI later revealed as multiple servers. 

Finally Clinton, who served as first lady, as a senator from New York with a position on the Senate Armed Services Committee and in the top position at the Department of State, told the FBI she didn’t understand how classification of material works and that she thought a “(C)” marking on emailed material was simply there because emails were organized alphabetically. 

“When asked about the e-mail chain containing ‘(C)’ portion marking that State determined to contain CONFIDENTIAL information, Clinton stated she did not know what the ‘(C)’ meant at the beginning of paragraphs and speculated it was referencing paragraphs marked in alphabetical order,” the report states. 

The email chain referenced was missing the letters (A) (B) (D) (E) (F) (G) (H), et cetera, to prove Clinton’s imaginary alphabetical organization pattern. Further, her own words given during a recent and rare press gaggle disprove her excuses to the FBI. 

“I went into the State Department understanding classification. I’ve been on the Senate Armed Services Committee for years before I was secretary of State,” Clinton said Tuesday in her first press conference in nearly a year. “I take classification seriously. The fact I couldn’t remember certain meetings, whether or not they had occurred, doesn’t in any way affect the treatment I had and still have of classified material.”

“Lost” BlackBerries and laptops, BleachBit and hammers to destroy and bury emails Clinton claims were personal — if this doesn’t scream intent and cover-up, nothing ever will. These instances, excuses and explanations are not only laughable, they’re insulting to the intelligence of the American people. Just how stupid does she think we are? 

Many have argued Clinton is incompetent, but she shouldn’t be let off so easily. She’s corrupt and a liar — every move she makes is extremely calculated and intentional. The decision to reject a State.gov account and use a private email server to conduct all of her government business was a deliberate one, and instructions given to delete and destroy emails were handed down from the top. 

Ignorance isn’t a defense for everyday Americans, but the evidence and statements made by Clinton and excused by the FBI through a non-indictment prove it certainly is a defense for the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee. 

Pavlich is editor for Townhall.com and a Fox News contributor.