HUFF POST: …A report by Michael Tomasky in The Daily Beast, however, cast a heavy dose of skepticism over the Times’ reporting on the regulation that required officials to preserve email communications. A State Department official told Tomasky that employees were told in October 2014 that personal email should generally not be used for government business, but if it is, communications must be forwarded to a government account in order to be appropriately preserved. Clinton left the Department prior to that, in February of 2013, however.
“So if these new regulations went into effect after she left State, then what rule did she violate, exactly? And, if this is true, why did the Times not share this rather crucial piece of information with its readers? No one could possibly argue that this fact isn’t germane to the story. It’s absolutely central to it. Why would the Times leave it out?” wrote Tomasky.
Media Matters, a liberal watchdog group whose chairman David Brock is a top Clinton ally, echoed the sentiment by noting that President Barack Obama only amended the Presidential and Federal Records Act on November 26, 2014. “Among the ‘major points’ in the 2014 law highlighted by the National Archives was: ‘Clarifying the responsibilities of Federal government officials when using non-government email systems,'” the group wrote. Bloomberg also followed up Tuesday,writing that the “measure wasn’t in effect when Clinton served in the administration.” … (more)
