Thread: What is Hillary hiding?

Donors deserve privacy
Thu Apr 3, 12:21 AM ET
By Bruce Lindsey

After President Clinton left office, thousands of people generously contributed to the Clinton Foundation to support its philanthropic goals, build the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, and showcase the unprecedented period of peace and prosperity America enjoyed during the last decade of the 20th century.

Some donors were longtime Democrats and friends of President and Senator Clinton. Others were Republicans. Still others were apolitical. Also making contributions were businesses and business owners, financial institutions and executives, and thousands of small contributors who gave less than $25. They made their contributions proudly, patriotically and with the understanding that they could choose whether or not their contribution would be made public.

We appreciate that in campaigns, non-political activities sometimes become politicized. In this primary season, political opponents of Senator Clinton have called for President Clinton to release the names of donors to the Clinton Foundation. To do so would violate the president's pledge to foundation donors that their contributions could remain anonymous unless they chose otherwise.

It would also be contrary to the way most non-profit organizations operate. Those who make donations to the Red Cross, the United Way or the Salvation Army, for example, are allowed to decide whether they want to be named publicly. Those making contributions to the Clinton Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, deserve the same standard. Furthermore, President Clinton has said that if Senator Clinton is elected, he would disclose donors to his foundation during her tenure in office.

The Clinton Foundation is fortunate to have more than 100,000 donors. Donations to the foundation, large and small, have helped sustain more than 800 volunteers and employees on six continents, helped save the lives of 1.4 million people living with HIV/AIDS, put in place a revolutionary program to cut carbon emissions, and built the Clinton Global Initiative, which has generated commitments to action worth $30 billion that benefit projects worldwide.

It would be a true shame if political motivations in a presidential campaign discouraged magnanimous people from supporting the efforts of the Clinton Foundation to save and improve lives around the world.


Bruce Lindsey is CEO of the William J. Clinton Foundation.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/200...xmS9CB_Kj8B2YD


If you can claim it on your taxes as a donation, can it be considered "private" ?

Originally Posted by Jolie Rouge

Democrat/Hillary Donor Accused of Cross-border Money Laundering

It wasn't much of a story at first. Back in October a rival accused Corpus Christi "attorney" Mauricio Celis of practicing law without a license, which is a felony in Texas. And you know,he seemed to be hemming and hawing about his bona fide lawyerness quite a bit.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/mex...r.350d4df.html

Born in Mexico, raised in Rockport, educated in Monterrey, Mexico, and for a while apparently in the air-conditioning business, Celis seemed a South Texas version of the classic American success story.

But the story line took a bad turn on Sept. 28, when Thomas Henry, a Corpus Christi lawyer, appeared on a local television station and denounced Celis, 35, as a fraud.

"Mauricio Celis with the law firm of CGT Law Group International does not have a law license in the state of Texas nor does he have a license to practice law anywhere in the world," announced Henry in the paid TV spot.

... "He was wrong in his statements. I have never represented myself to be a lawyer in Texas," Celis said by phone in a brief interview this week.

That and related folderol were good for a few quick jibes in the blogosphere, but never really reached Hsu-like proportions. http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/...ves/016031.php

Well, apparently that little law license tiff raised some more interesting questions, and now another Hsu has dropped: http://www.caller.com/news/2008/jan/...fice-of-celis/

CORPUS CHRISTI — Mauricio Celis is linked to the Mexican drug trade in a search warrant the state used Friday to raid his law offices and gather computer files, according to financial documents and other business records. The warrant includes a sworn statement by a Texas Attorney General's official accusing Celis of money laundering.
...

The state searched a U.S. Treasury database and border crossing data to determine that Celis went to Mexico frequently after withdrawing large sums of cash, according to an affidavit accompanying the warrant. "Celis is rumored to be associated with questionable criminal element (sic) possibly related to drug trafficking," the affidavit states.

The affidavit, by Capt. Alex Pena of the Attorney General's Office, states that Pena "believes that Mauricio Celis has committed the felony offense of money laundering."

A document the state obtained from Frost Bank showed a joint account signed by Celis and Raul Armando Winder, a Mexican citizen and former police officer who has been employed as a pilot by individuals linked to narcotic trafficking, according to the affidavit. The account was for a business called Pegasus Air Services, which Celis owned from 2002-05, according to the Texas Secretary of State. Winder is listed as vice president on the bank application.

No game of guess-that-party here; Celis accuses the Republican state AG of a politically motivated investigation because Celis is a major Democratic donor.

Of course, being a curious little ferret, I went and checked out who he's giving that money to. Major indeed. A lot of it went to Senate candidates and some to PACs. But for President, who is Mr. Celis backing? Why, imagine my surprise! http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/se...tAll=Y&Order=N ( The link to the Opensecrets.org search doesn't work simply by clicking. It looks like they want you to do your own search once you get there. So type in Celis, Mauricio and pick "all election cycles" and there you go.)

[IMG]http--farm3.static.flickr.com-2091-2193028563_9705e1aa38.jpg[/IMG]

Interestingly, he doesn't seem at all coy about identifying himself as an "attorney" when he's handing out cash to the Democrats. I suppose that's a nicer job description than, say, "cash mule" http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=mule

(Mr. Celis, of course, remains innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.)

MORE: Shortly after this raid, Celis' lawyers wrote a confidential letter to the judge (BIG legal ethics no-no!) asking for Celis' passport back. http://www.caller.com/news/2008/jan/...elis-passport/ It had been surrendered as part of bail in the law-license investigation. But all of a sudden, he really needed it back just so he could go down to Mexico and, um, talk to a few witnesses...

AFTERTHOUGHT: Back here I joked that "Extreme Prejudice" sounded more and more like a documentary every day. Wasn't there a banker character, too, doing exactly what Celis was accused of doing? http://junkyardblog.net/archives/200...rio-grande.php



ONE MORE THING: For you intrepid blog-ferrets, Corpus Christi TV station KRIS has posted a pdf of the warrant, but you have to access it through this page--link's on the right hand side underneath the two pictures and over the ad; the one in the text doesn't work. Juicy part's on page 10... http://www.kristv.com/Global/story.asp?S=7581380

[IMG]http--farm3.static.flickr.com-2036-2194159095_80195b8fce.jpg[/IMG]

How important is Celis?

In the last three cycles, Celis donated over $110,000 to Democrats. Donations went to John Edwards, Claire McCaskill, Ken and John Salazar, and especially the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the DNC, the latter two of which accounts for almost half of those donations. Hillary Clinton received a maximum donation of $2300 from Celis in March, presumably for her primary fund. He’s a fairly heavy hitter, especially here in Texas.

69/864

Update to follow ...

Celis indicted on two charges
Money laundering is a first-degree felony charge
By Denise Malan
April 26, 2008

Celis has previously maintained his innocence.

A Nueces County grand jury handed up two indictments Friday against former law firm operator Mauricio Celis, charging him with money laundering and impersonating a lawyer. The money laundering charge is a first-degree felony punishable by five years to life in prison.

District Attorney Carlos Valdez said the investigation into Celis is essentially over and no one else, including former employees of Celis' firm, is a target. The grand jury's term expires next week.

"If during the course of trial, during the course of preparation, we find something else, we might do it," Valdez said.

Celis' attorney Tony Canales did not return a phone call to his office Friday afternoon. Spokesman Jason Stanford was out of the office and did not return a call to his cell phone. Celis previously has maintained his innocence and said the investigation is politically motivated.

The grand jury listened to nearly three days of testimony and evidence, spread across three weeks, before indicting Celis. Well-known trial lawyer Mikal Watts, a friend of Celis, testified Friday. Investigators from the Texas Attorney General's Office also appeared before the grand jury, with several boxes of evidence.

By law, Valdez cannot comment on grand jury proceedings, even to confirm if a witness testified. Watts declined to comment after leaving the jury room. Watts previously told the Caller-Times that his firm accepted three cases from CGT Law Group International, Celis' former firm, and that he was confident the transactions were legal.

Celis is scheduled to appear Monday at a status hearing on previous charges. Valdez said he would ask the court to issue a summons rather than arrest warrant for Celis.

Celis, 36, was indicted in November 2007 by a Nueces County grand jury on felony charges of impersonating a lawyer and a police officer, perjury and theft. He owned Corpus Christi-based CGT Law Group before coming under public scrutiny after an incident with police in September and an ad campaign by another local lawyer claiming Celis was not a licensed attorney.

The indictments handed up Friday include 16 additional counts of impersonating a lawyer, based on listing his occupation as an attorney on insurance applications and fax cover sheets, and for accepting $1.3 million in checks written to him for attorney fees.

The money laundering charge is based on about $8.6 million in transactions. State law defines money laundering as acquiring or transferring money through the commission of a crime. The crime to which Valdez and the Texas Attorney General's Office link the money transfer is impersonating a lawyer.

Money laundering is a first-degree felony punishable by five years to life in prison. The other charges are third-degree felonies punishable by two to 10 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.

Valdez called the case unique in Nueces County history.

"This is just the tip of a very, very big iceberg," Valdez said. "There's no way we can delve into all that's happened."

State officials raided the former CGT office at 500 N. Water St. in January and hauled off Palm Pilots and 13 boxes of records. A search warrant linked Celis to possible money laundering, which he has denied.

The warrant also indicated officials were looking for links between Celis and other lawyers and firms who accepted or gave referrals to CGT Law Group. Celis has asked the courts to return his property and said the Republican Attorney General's Office is carrying out a political vendetta against him because of his extensive donations to Democrats.

The attorney general sought an injunction in October against the firm, alleging that Celis misrepresented himself as an attorney and asking a judge to shut down the firm. That case now is on hold pending the outcome of the criminal cases against Celis.

Celis has said he was authorized to practice law in Mexico. Documents filed by Valdez show he did not have a law degree there. Celis' attorneys have filed three opinions from legal professors stating a person does not need a law degree to practice in Mexico. Celis has maintained he did not represent clients in the United States.

In addition to the criminal charges, Celis faces civil suits from the attorney general and the state Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee, as well as a former CGT client who claims Celis represented her. Former CGT lawyers have sued the Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee claiming it interfered with settlement money during its investigation.

http://www.caller.com/news/2008/apr/...n-two-charges/


BTW, I don’t expect this story to get a lot of coverage outside conservative circles unless Hillary is slow in giving back the money he raised for her. Maybe I’m wrong, though, and Obama will run with it. It’s already had some effect in Texas, where an association with Celis may have driven one Democratic challenger to Senator Cornyn, Mikal Watts, from the race.

While the Hillary donor angle is the most interesting, by the way, he’s a big donor to many different Democrats. Not a Hsu-sized mega-donor by any means, but significant. You can check his contributions on the FEC website.
http://www.fec.gov/finance/disclosure/norindsea.shtml

Originally Posted by Jolie Rouge

Seven Things To Know About The Clintons
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/E...t_the_clintons
By Emmett Tyrrell
Thursday, October 18, 2007
2. For years, the Clintons have bullied the press, political opponents, prosecutors and those women who caught Bill's eye. Their successful efforts to suppress the recent GQ story by Josh Green show that their bullying continues. Since the 1980s, the Clintons have employed private investigators, for instance, Terry Lenzner, Jack Palladino and Anthony Pellicano, the latter of whom is a convicted felon. Gennifer Flowers, Monica Lewinsky and Kathleen Willey are but the most famous of the many women who have been harassed by the Clintons' private detectives. In my recent book, "The Clinton Crack-Up," I report that at least one independent counsel in the 1990s took to carrying a gun after being harassed on Washington streets. The harassment was very similar to harassment my reporters experienced in Little Rock, Ark., in the mid-1990s.

---

Those are some of the unlovely things said about the Clintons by their friends . Now are the Democrats really going ahead with a Hillary nomination?

7. The media have been lax in reporting the Clintons' unprecedented record of ethical failings and outright corruption. Most glaringly even the conservative columnists remain inert. The conservatives have adopted the position that all of the above is passe and to dwell on it is unseemly and awkward.

Well, call me unfashionable, but I find the Clinton record alarming.

Prosecutor calls indicted private eye a 'well-paid thug'
By GREG RISLING, Associated Press Writer
12 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES - Private investigator Anthony Pellicano was a "well-paid thug" who dug up dirt through wiretaps and other illegal means to benefit his Hollywood A-list clientele, a federal prosecutor told jurors Tuesday.

In his closing argument, Assistant U.S. Attorney Dan Saunders said jurors had been taken inside Pellicano's world during the two-month trial and shown how he illegally collected information for clients to use in legal and other disputes.

"Tires get slashed, computers get hacked, houses get broken into," Saunders said. "And of course, people's phones get wiretapped."

Saunders was scheduled to continue his argument Tuesday, with defense attorneys to follow.

Pellicano, 64, and four co-defendants have pleaded not guilty to a variety of charges. Pellicano, who is acting as his own attorney, is accused of leading a criminal enterprise that raked in more than $2 million by spying on Hollywood's rich and famous then supplying the dirt to their rivals.

Saunders said the government had proven its case by presenting documents, testimony from clients and alleged victims, and perhaps most importantly recordings made by the private investigator.

"When you get recordings of defendants engaging in criminal activity, there's not a whole lot they can do to get away from it," Saunders said.

Nearly all those recordings involved discussions between Pellicano and clients. Only one allegedly wiretapped call was played during the trial.

Saunders explained that computers weren't seized during the first of several searches of Pellicano's office because the warrant did not target the alleged wiretapping.

When authorities returned later with another warrant, "Mr. Pellicano had cleaned house," Saunders said.

Saunders called former Los Angeles police Sgt. Mark Arneson, a co-defendant in the case, a "dirty cop" who sold his badge for the $2,500 a month Pellicano paid him to run names through law enforcement databases.

Saunders showed jurors copies of checks to Pellicano from clients or law firms. He then compared the dates of the payments to a police audit showing when names were run through databases by Arneson. In some cases, names were processed on the same day a payment was given to Pellicano.

U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer expects closing arguments to take about two days, with the jury likely to get the case later this week.

Comedian Chris Rock and one-time power agent Michael Ovitz testified during the trial about using the services of Pellicano. Both said they knew nothing about his tactics.

Comedian Garry Shandling, an alleged victim, also took the witness stand.

Pellicano was accused of wiretapping the phone of Sylvester Stallone, but the "Rocky" star did not testify.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080429/...4X2.wTuZBH2ocA

Why Clinton Stands to Lose Millions
By Bret Schulte
Thu May 8, 5:32 PM ET

With rounds to fight running out, the self-described Rocky Balboa of politics will soon be forced to assess the damage sustained by the most expensive primary bout in history. Sen. Hillary Clinton doled out $6.4 million of her own money to her campaign since April, her campaign told reporters this week. That brings her total cash outlay to more than $11 million since January. And she's not ruling out spending more as she plans to compete in the six remaining contests. If she plans to knock out heavyweight fundraising champ, Sen. Barack Obama, she may have no other choice.

Experts disagree on whether or not Clinton will actually stick in the fight until the Democratic National Convention in August. But the date looms large for another reason--at least, if she hopes to recoup any of the millions she has sunk into the campaign. Thanks to a little-known provision in 2002's McCain-Feingold campaign-finance reform bill, a campaign must repay the loan to a candidate before Election Day. In this case, that's the nominating convention. After the election has passed, a bankrupt campaign is limited to gathering just $250,000 from contributors, which means that modest sum is all it can give back to a candidate. In short, Clinton stands to lose $11,150,000. "If she wants to be repaid, she'd have to move on that between now and the national convention," says former Federal Election Commission chairman Michael Toner. "Otherwise, it just becomes another contribution." The campaign, meanwhile, has other debts to consider as well. According to her latest FEC filing, the Hillary Clinton for President campaign committee owes millions to vendors, including more than $4.5 million to Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, the consulting firm of her former chief strategist Mark Penn.


That adds another wrinkle to her decision to stay in the race. Time is running out to pay off friends, allies, and vendors. Plus, by all accounts, Clinton's most ardent supporters are tapped out, either unwilling or unable by law to donate any more. If she's going to continue competing, she has to ask herself how many more millions she's willing to spend in a quest many describe as increasingly quixotic. In short, how much does she care about the money? Politics guru Larry Sabato at the University of Virginia figures not much; after all, the Clintons earned $109 million since leaving the White House. "It's like Michael Bloomberg spending a billion. Would he miss it? Is she going to miss $10 million? There's only so much you can spend yourself anyway."


Still, $10 million is no small amount of coin, even for high rollers. That's led many in political circles to speculate that the money issue has Clinton carefully considering her options. Fundraising is tough; fundraising for a perceived loser is even tougher. How will the candidate pay off her debt? The best shot, paradoxically, is seeking the help of her chief rival. It's more than probable that she and Obama could work out a deal: She gets out of the race, saving him the millions he would spend in the remaining primaries, and he would help put her campaign back in the black. That could be accomplished by headlining fundraisers for her, and leaning on his donors to cut her a check. "It would be a matter of mending fences," says Scott Thomas, another former FEC chairman. "If his campaign fundraisers are able to help her retire her debt, she's in a much more comfortable position and would be far better disposed (to help him in the general election)." Adds Toner: "That's very common, particularly when you're trying to join ranks to help your defeated colleagues."


Even with Obama's help, however, it's unlikely that Clinton could recoup all or even most of her millions. "Debt fundraising is one of the hardest asks in politics," Toner says. "You've already lost. They'd rather give money to candidates still in the running." Indeed, U.S. News has learned that multimillionaire former Gov. Mitt Romney, who poured $35 million into his own campaign, isn't even attempting to fundraise to get his money back. He is simply giving it up. "Governor Romney has no plans either now or in the future to raise money so that he can retire his debt," spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said in a statement. "There may be some income gained through list rentals and equipment sales that will revert to him, but that will be a relatively small sum." Romney is instead focusing his fundraising efforts on assisting Republican nominee Sen. John McCain.


Perhaps Clinton will have the same attitude. With the McCain-Feingold-induced deadline of the August convention ever closer, Clinton is still ardently chasing the nomination, spending the money necessary it takes to win. In fact, she just released a television ad in West Virginia--no small expense--that likens the Bush economy to a "trap door." The ad intones that "too many families are one pink slip, one missed mortgage payment" from falling through and "losing everything." Clinton, by contrast, stands to lose only $11 million or so.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnews/20080...tolosemillions

Detailed Report Of Notable People Who Have Died In Close Association With The Clintons

American News Jan 10, 2016

If you knew that somebody was surrounded by friends who died mysterious deaths, you’d be hesitant to hang out with them, wouldn’t you? So it goes to follow that you’d probably be hesitant to elect them as President of the United States as well.

If that’s the case, then we need to keep Hillary Clinton far away from the White House.
The Clintons have a notoriously high rate of deaths of those close to them—so high in fact, that people have joked that a friendship with the couple essentially amounts to a death sentence.

If you haven’t heard, here are a few of the most famous cases:

#1: Mary Mahoney

Mahoney was a former White House intern who served as an assistant manager at a local Starbucks in Georgetown. While the Clintons were in the middle of the Paula Jones lawsuit, a journalist named Mike Isikoff reported that a “former White House staffer” with the initial “M” was debating going public with her own story of sexual harassment at the hands of Bill Clinton.

A few days later, Mahoney was shot in the coffee shop where she worked. Two other associates were also shot in another room. Silencers were used during the attack, and Mahoney took 5 bullets.

The crime was reported as a robbery, but no money was found missing.

#2: Vincent Foster

Foster worked for the Rose Law Firm and was heavily involved in several investigations into the Clinton financial network. After making a call to Clinton that didn’t go well, Foster was found dead in Ft. Marcy Park in Washington D.C.

Authorities reported the death as a suicide, and a suicide note was found a few days later shredded into pieces. His office had been entered by White House staff.

Questions remain in the case, given that the gun that killed him was reportedly found in his hand. Eye witness reports, however, say that there was no gun at the scene. There are also questions as to where Foster sustained wounds. He is believed to have had an unreported gunshot wound to the neck even the FBI reported only one gunshot wound to the head.

#3: John F. Kennedy Jr.

The third case is that of John F. Kennedy Jr. Kennedy had just hinted that he would be running for a Senate seat, presumed to already belong to Hillary Clinton.

A few days later, he, his wife, and sister-in-law died in a plane crash outside of Martha’s Vineyard. What is more suspicious is that eye-witness reports say that the skies were clear. Conversely, major news networks reported hazardous conditions.

The military even sanctioned off a 5-mile perimeter as a no-fly zone until the investigation was finalized.

These stories are just three of nearly a hundred mysterious deaths connected with the Clintons. What do you think? Do they need to be kept far away from the White House?

http://americannews.com/detailed-rep...-the-clintons/

Love how Snopes handles this : http://www.snopes.com/politics/clintons/bodycount.asp

No bias here - eh ?

They've been paid off many years ago, and I NEVER trust anyone who verifies with them. THIS has been since day 1.

Clinton to propose 4 percent income-tax 'surcharge' on wealthy
Amanda Becker - 4 hrs ago

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Monday proposed a 4 percent tax on the wealthiest sliver of taxpayers who earn more than $5 million per year.


The so-called "surcharge" on the wealthiest 0.02 percent would generate $150 billion over the next decade, according to a Clinton campaign aide.

The suggested tax follows Clinton's promise last month as she campaigned alongside billionaire investor Warren Buffett to build on the "Buffett rule," which would establish a minimum tax rate of 30 percent on those earning more than $1 million per year. Buffett has criticized tax policies that allow the rich to pay lower rates than the middle class.

"I want to go further and impose what I call a fair share surcharge on multi-millionaires because right now, we're behind and we need to get the wealthy and the corporations to pay for their fair share, so I can keep my promise, which is I will not raise taxes on the middle class," Clinton said at a campaign stop in Iowa on Monday.

The Democratic front-runner, Clinton is just weeks out from the first party-nominating contests in Iowa and New Hampshire, where she is trying to fend off her chief rival, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a democratic socialist who has made reducing income inequality the theme of his campaign.

Clinton's proposals have included a $350 billion plan to reduce college debt; a $275 billion plan to invest in infrastructure and a $30 billion plan to assist coal-dependent regions as the country transitions to renewable energy.

At the same time, she has promised not to raise taxes on families earning less than $250,000 per year, and whose support she needs to secure the Democratic nomination ahead of the election in November.

Clinton will release more tax proposals later this week that were "designed to ensure the wealthy pay their fair share," her campaign said.

For more on the 2016 presidential race, see the Reuters blog, "Tales from the Trail" (http://blogs.reuters.com/talesfromthetrail/). (Reporting by Amanda Becker; additional reporting by Alana Wise; additional; writing by David Alexander; Editing by Eric Walsh and Bernadette Baum and Alistair Bell)


http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politi...d=ansmsnnews11

Since almost every DC Politico is a millionaire... INCLUDING past and present POTUS ... watch for loopholes. Donating $x% to Democratic Party provide an exemption ?

Gov't finds 'top secret' info in Clinton emails
January 29, 2016

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration is confirming for the first time that Hillary Clinton's unsecured home server contained some closely guarded secrets, including material requiring one of the highest levels of classification.

The revelation comes just three days before the Iowa presidential nominating caucuses in which Clinton is a candidate.

The State Department will release more emails from Clinton's time as secretary of state later Friday.

But The Associated Press has learned that 7 email chains are being withheld in full for containing "top secret" material.

Department officials wouldn't describe the substance of the emails, or say if Clinton had sent any herself.

Spokesman John Kirby tells the AP that no judgment on past classification was made. But the department is looking into that, too.

http://www.wbrz.com/news/gov-t-finds...=facebook_WBRZ



Government declares 22 Clinton emails 'top secret'
17 mins ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration confirmed for the first time Friday that Hillary Clinton's home server contained closely guarded government secrets, censoring 22 emails that contained material requiring one of the highest levels of classification. The revelation comes three days before Clinton competes in the Iowa presidential caucuses.

State Department officials also said the agency's Diplomatic Security and Intelligence and Research bureaus are investigating if any of the information was classified at the time of transmission, going to the heart of Clinton's defense of her email practices.

The department will release its next batch of emails from her time as secretary of state later Friday.

But The Associated Press learned seven email chains are being withheld in full for containing "top secret" information. The 37 pages include messages a key intelligence official recently said concerned "special access programs" — highly restricted, classified material that could point to confidential sources or clandestine programs like drone strikes.

"The documents are being upgraded at the request of the intelligence community because they contain a category of top secret information," State Department spokesman John Kirby told the AP, calling the withholding of documents in full "not unusual." That means they won't be published online with others being released, even with blacked-out boxes.

Department officials wouldn't describe the substance of the emails, or say if Clinton sent any herself.

Clinton, the Democratic presidential front-runner, insists she never sent or received information on her personal email account that was classified at the time. No emails released so far were stamped "CLASSIFIED" or "TOP SECRET," but reviewers previously designated more than 1,000 messages at lower classification levels. Friday's will be the first at top secret level.

Even if Clinton didn't write or forward the messages, she still would have been required to report any classification slippages she recognized in emails she received. But without classification markings, that may have been difficult, especially if the information was publicly available.

"We firmly oppose the complete blocking of the release of these emails," Clinton campaign spokesman Brain Fallon said. "Since first providing her emails to the State Department more than one year ago, Hillary Clinton has urged that they be made available to the public. We feel no differently today."

Fallon accused the "loudest and leakiest participants" in a process of bureaucratic infighting for withholding the exchanges. The documents, he said, originated in the State Department's unclassified system before they ever reached Clinton, and "in at least one case, the emails appear to involve information from a published news article."

"This appears to be overclassification run amok," Fallon said.

Kirby said the State Department was focused, as part of a Freedom of Information Act review of Clinton's emails, on "whether they need to be classified today." Past classification questions, he said, "are being, and will be, handled separately by the State Department." It is the first indication of such a probe.

Department responses for classification infractions could include counseling, warnings or other action, officials said. They wouldn't say if Clinton or senior aides who've since left government could face penalties. The officials weren't authorized to speak on the matter and demanded anonymity.

Separately, Kirby said the department is withholding eight email chains, totaling 18 messages, between President Barack Obama and Clinton. These are remaining confidential "to protect the president's ability to receive unvarnished advice and counsel," and will be released eventually like other presidential records.

The emails have been a Clinton campaign issue since 10 months ago, when the AP discovered her exclusive use while in office of a homebrew email server in the basement of her family's New York home. Doing so wasn't expressly forbidden. Clinton first called the decision a matter of convenience, then a mistake.

Last March, Clinton and the State Department said no business conducted in the emails included top-secret matters. Both said her account was never hacked or compromised, which security experts assess as unlikely.

Clinton and the State Department also claimed the vast majority of her emails were preserved properly for archiving because she corresponded mainly with government accounts. They've backtracked from that claim in recent months.

The special access programs emails surfaced last week, when Charles I. McCullough, lead auditor for U.S. intelligence agencies, told Congress he found some in Clinton's account.

Kirby confirmed the "denied-in-full emails" are among those McCullough recently cited. He said one was among those McCullough identified last summer as possibly containing top secret information.

The AP reported last August that one focused on a forwarded news article about the CIA's classified U.S. drone program. Such operations are widely discussed publicly, including by top U.S. officials, and State Department officials debated McCullough's claim. The other concerned North Korean nuclear weapons programs, according to officials.

At the time, several officials from different agencies suggested the disagreement over the drone emails reflected a tendency to overclassify material, and a lack of consistent classification policies across government.

The FBI also is looking into Clinton's email setup, but has said nothing about the nature of its probe. Independent experts say it's unlikely Clinton will be charged with wrongdoing, based on details that have surfaced so far and the lack of indications she intended to break laws.

"What I would hope comes out of all of this is a bit of humility" and Clinton's acknowledgement that "I made some serious mistakes," said Bradley Moss, a Washington lawyer specializing in security clearance matters.

Legal questions aside, it's the potential political costs that probably more concern Clinton. She has struggled in surveys measuring perceived trustworthiness and any investigation, buoyed by evidence of top secret material coursing through her account, could negate a main selling point for her becoming commander in chief: her national security resume.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politi...ret/ar-BBoSo4n

If you're under 50 you really need to read this. If you’re over 50, you lived through it, so share it with those under 50. Amazing to me how much I had forgotten!

When Bill Clinton was president, he allowed Hillary to assume authority over a health care reform. Even after threats and intimidation, she couldn’t even get a vote in a democratic controlled congress. This fiasco cost the American taxpayers about $13 million in cost for studies, promotion, and other efforts.

Then President Clinton gave Hillary authority over selecting a female attorney general. Her first two selections were Zoe Baird and Kimba Wood – both were forced to withdraw their names from consideration. Next she chose Janet Reno – husband Bill described her selection as “my worst mistake.” Some may not remember that Reno made the decision to gas David Koresh and the Branch Davidian religious sect in Waco, Texas resulting in dozens of deaths of women and children.

Husband Bill allowed Hillary to make recommendations for the head of the Civil Rights Commission. Lani Guanier was her selection. When a little probing led to the discovery of Ms. Guanier’s radical views, her name had to be withdrawn from consideration.

Apparently a slow learner, husband Bill allowed Hillary to make some more recommendations. She chose former law partners Web Hubbel for the Justice Department, Vince Foster for the White House staff, and William Kennedy for the Treasury Department. Her selections went well: Hubbel went to prison, Foster (presumably) committed suicide, and Kennedy was forced to resign.

Many younger votes will have no knowledge of “Travelgate.” Hillary wanted to award unfettered travel contracts to Clinton friend Harry Thompson – and the White House Travel Office refused to comply. She managed to have them all reported to the FBI and fired. This ruined their reputations, cost them their jobs, and caused a thirty-six month investigation. Only one employee, Billy Dale was charged with a crime, and that of the enormous crime of mixing personal and White House funds. A jury acquitted him of any crime in less than two hours.

Still not convinced of her ineptness, Hillary was allowed to recommend a close Clinton friend, Craig Livingstone, for the position of Director of White House security. When Livingstone was investigated for the improper access of about 900 FBI files of Clinton enemies (Filegate) and the widespread use of drugs by White House staff, suddenly Hillary and the president denied even knowing Livingstone, and of course, denied knowledge of drug use in the White House.

Following this debacle, the FBI closed its White House Liaison Office after more than thirty years of service to seven presidents.

Next, when women started coming forward with allegations of sexual harassment and rape by Bill Clinton, Hillary was put in charge of the #$%$ eruption” and scandal defense. Some of her more notable decisions in the debacle were:

She urged her husband not to settle the Paula Jones lawsuit. After the Starr investigation they settled with Ms. Jones.

She refused to release the Whitewater documents, which led to the appointment of Ken Starr as Special Prosecutor.

After $80 million dollars of taxpayer money was spent, Starr's investigation led to Monica Lewinsky, which led to Bill lying about and later admitting his affairs.

Hillary’s devious game plan resulted in Bill losing his license to practice law for 'lying under oath' to a grand jury and then his subsequent impeachment by the House of Representatives.

Hillary avoided indictment for perjury and obstruction of justice during the Starr investigation by repeating, “I do not recall,” “I have no recollection,” and “I don’t know” a total of 56 times while under oath.

After leaving the White House, Hillary was forced to return an estimated $200,000 in White House furniture, china, and artwork that she had stolen.

What a swell party – ready for another four or eight year of this type of low-life mess?

Now we are exposed to the destruction of possibly incriminating emails while Hillary was Secretary of State and the “pay to play” schemes of the Clinton Foundation – we have no idea what shoe will fall next.

But to her loyal fans (supporters) - I guess in her own words “what difference does it make?”