Lyles: Hillary Clinton should be in prison

It is incomprehensible, given the public facts that are now available regarding Hillary Clinton’s abuse of state secrets, that anyone in their right mind could even momentarily consider supporting her candidacy for president.

It is a sad commentary on the decline of America’s two-party system that she is the Democrat front-runner, blindly supported by party leadership. The evidence made public to date is both damming and irrefutable.

Ms. Clinton cannot claim ignorance in the handling of these materials because, as a cabinet officer who could authorize clearance, she received formal training in both the classification process and the standards required for handling classified information. She knew that the information in most of the 22 top secret emails she surreptitiously transferred from government servers to her own was in the Top Secret/SAP category the moment it was created because of the way it was collected.

Intelligence gathered through some covert activities is classified top secret the moment it is collected to prevent our adversaries from knowing about our intelligence gathering capabilities. Revealing that information compromises our capability. It also puts lives at risk, because the sources are often well-placed operatives who get killed when their true allegiances are revealed. Peoples’ lives and national security should trump political expediency or convenience. Ms. Clinton’s behavior in this regard is despicable.

Ms. Clinton’s actions are exponentially more serious than the behavior of Gen. David Patraeus, who was convicted and fined for inadvertently sharing confidential information with his biographer. In comparing his behavior to Ms. Clinton’s, based on punishment he received, in all fairness Ms. Clinton should receive life in prison without possibility of parole.

When Ms. Clinton says “nothing was marked classified at the time I sent or received it,” she is lying with the truth. This is a bit like Bill Clinton saying he “never had sex with that woman,” even though his semen was found down the front of Monica Lewinski’s dress. It is true that nothing was “marked classified” because no messages or information are ever marked “classified.” They are marked “Confidential,” “Secret,” “Top Secret,” or “Top Secret/SAP.” The specific classifications are used rather than the generic term “classified.” Further, for classified information, the presence or absence of classifications has no bearing on the classified status of the information itself. Classified information is classified and she knows it.

The investigation into Ms. Clinton’s misdeeds is not a partisan witch hunt. It is being led by an Obama appointee, FBI Director James Comey. The current leadership at the State Department are all Obama appointees, as are the heads the major intelligence agencies.

Two wild cards remain in play. If an indictment is handed down, it will have to come from Democrat U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch. Regardless of the evidence she receives from Director Comey, she could decide not to indict. Barak Obama could issue Ms. Clinton a blanket pardon on his way out the door, to prevent her conviction from tarnishing his presidency.

Her most recent challenge for the State Department to release the 22 Top Secret/SAP emails so people could see for themselves is the height of haughtiness. She knows the emails won’t be released, even to many of the investigators, because the information is ultra-sensitive. They won’t be released for the exact same reason they never should have been on her server. Duuhhh!

Because these messages were on her server, however, the server itself became classified. It was stored in the bathroom of her computer tech. This is absurd beyond belief. Yet mainstream Democrats hope that after New Hampshire she’ll cruise to the nomination.

Give me a break.