Journalisten slår tillbaka: ”Inte större än Watergate”

Watergateaffären, Watergateskandalen, var en stor politisk skandal som inträffade i USA på 1970-talet som en följd av inbrottet i Democratic National Committees (DNC) högkvarter i Watergate-kontorskomplexet i Washington, D.C. den 17 juni 1972, och Nixon-administrationens försök till mörkläggning av sin inblandning. När komplotten upptäcktes och undersöktes av den amerikanska kongressen ledde Nixon-administrationens motstånd mot dess undersökningar till en konstitutionell kris. Termen Watergate har kommit att omfatta en rad hemliga och ofta olagliga verksamheter som bedrevs av medlemmarna i Nixon-administrationen. I dessa verksamheter ingick bland annat buggning av politiska motståndares kontor och av människor av vilka Nixon eller hans tjänstemän var misstänksamma mot. Nixon och hans närmaste medhjälpare ordnade trakasserier av aktivistgrupper och politiker, med hjälp av Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), och Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Skandalen ledde till upptäckten av flera fall maktmissbruk från Nixon-administrationens sida, riksrättsåtal och Richard Nixons avgång som USA:s president den 9 augusti 1974 – den enda amerikanske presidenten som hittills avgått. Skandalen resulterade också i åtal mot 69 personer, där 48 befanns skyldiga och dömdes till fängelse, av vilka många var Nixons högsta förvaltningstjänstemän. Affären började med gripandet av fem män för inbrott i DNC:s högkvarter i Watergate-komplexet den 17 juni 1972. FBI kopplade inbrottstjuvarnas kontanter till en slaskfond som används av kommittén för omval av presidenten (CRP), den officiella organisationen för Nixons kampanj. I juli 1973 avslöjade de bevis som anbringats mot presidentens personal, inklusive vittnesmål från tidigare anställda, i en utredning som genomfördes av Senate Watergate Committee, att president Nixon hade ett bandinspelningssystem i hans kontor och att han hade spelat in många konversationer. Efter en utdragen serie av bittra domstolsstrider, fastslog den amerikanska högsta domstolen enhälligt att presidenten var tvungen att lämna över banden till regeringsutredare, vilket han så småningom gjorde. Inspelningar från dessa band avslöjade att presidenten hade försökt dölja de tvivelaktiga förehavanden som hade ägt rum efter inbrottet. Då Nixon stod inför ett nästan säkert riksrättsåtal i representanthuset och ett lika säkert åtal av senaten, avgick han som president den 9 augusti 1974. Hans efterträdare, Gerald Ford, utfärdade en benådning till honom den 8 september 1974.

In March 2015, it became publicly known that Hillary Clinton, during her tenure as United States Secretary of State, had exclusively used her family's private email server for official communications, rather than official State Department email accounts maintained on federal servers. Those official communications included thousands of emails that would later be marked classified by the State Department retroactively. The controversy unfolded against the backdrop of Clinton's 2016 presidential election campaign and hearings held by the United States House Select Committee on Benghazi. Some experts, officials, and members of Congress have contended that her use of private messaging system software and a private server violated State Department protocols and procedures, as well as federal laws and regulations governing recordkeeping. In response, Clinton has said that her use of personal email was in compliance with federal laws and State Department regulations and that former secretaries of state had also maintained personal email accounts, though not their own private email servers. After allegations were raised that some of the emails in question contained classified information, an investigation was initiated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) regarding how classified information was handled on the Clinton server. Of the emails on the server, 113 emails contained information which was classified at the time it was sent, including 65 emails deemed "Secret" and 22 deemed "Top Secret." Of the 113 emails, just three contained markings indicating they could be classified, although they lacked classified headers and were only marked with a small "c" in parentheses, described as "portion markings" by FBI Director James Comey. Comey also said it was possible Clinton was not “technically sophisticated” enough to understand what the three classified markings meant. Nearly 2,100 emails on the server were retroactively marked as classified by the State Department. Government policy, reiterated in the non-disclosure agreement signed by Clinton as part of gaining her security clearance, is that sensitive information should be considered and handled as classified even if not marked as such. In May 2016, the State Department's Office of the Inspector General released an 83-page report about the State Department's email practices, including Clinton's. On July 5, 2016 upon concluding its investigation, the FBI stated that Clinton was "extremely careless" in handling her email system but recommended that no charges be filed against Clinton. On July 6, 2016, Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced that no charges would be filed. On July 7, the State Department reopened its probe into the email controversy. On September 2, 2016, the FBI published a 58-page report on the investigation into her server.