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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   35033 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of April 3, 2023

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Sandy Berger got a fine and probation for doing worse than what Clinton did.

Has anyone ever been jailed for merely mishandling classified information without improperly disclosing it?

ETA - a quick google found this list of example cases. It looks like big shots like Berger and Petraeus get off with probation and fines, but small fry can get 3 months in prison if they are unlucky. The multi-year sentences all involved at least the appearance of unauthorized disclosure.

I think it is pretty clear Clinton would not have been jailed if she was prosecuted. Similarly, it would be an injustice if Trump gets jailed for mishandling classified information (assuming, of course, that he hasn't been disclosing it).

Sandy Berger

Clearly did wrong, but not worse than putting classified information on the open Internet.

???

Are you saying that sending classified information over unsecure e-mail is equivalent to putting it on the open Internet? I suppose it might be in terms of possible harm (although in the case of Hillary Clinton's e-mails this would be mitigated by the fact that they were probably never routed outside the US), but in terms of legal culpability it definitely isn't.

Are you saying that sending classified information over unsecure e-mail is equivalent to putting it on the open Internet?

Yes. The classified information traveled (quite possibly unencrypted) over the public internet. They may or may not have been routed outside the US; Clinton's people had no control of that.

Actually we know that they were in fact routed outside the US - her private server was compromised and a copy of every email she sent from it was forwarded to a foreign power (most likely China).

Until quite recently emails between different domains would have been transmitted in plain text. It’s not persistently available like a website, but any hop between the servers could read the contents of emails.

This is accurate. It's certainly bad but definitely not equivalent in terms of actual expected cost to publishing it on a webpage for everyone to see.

I really don't know why @The_Nybbler thinks otherwise. Is there some law that treats them as equivalent or are they simply remarking on pure cryptography theory? idk

This is accurate. It's certainly bad but definitely not equivalent in terms of actual expected cost to publishing it on a webpage for everyone to see.

I really don't know why @The_Nybbler thinks otherwise.

I don't. My words were "putting classified information on the open Internet".

I mean, it's what we get drilled into us. I don't know if it's law, though.

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