Hillary’s Most Trusted Aides in Jeopardy

Hillary Clinton may have escaped any penalty for mishandling of classified information — but her most trusted aides might not be so lucky.

Republicans are calling for the federal government to revoke security clearances of associates who helped Clinton set up a private email server in her home to evade public disclosure of her emails during her tenure as secretary of state. That could prevent Clinton from appointing longtime members of her inner circle to jobs in her administration.

56 percent of Americans disagree with FBI Director James Comey’s decision not to recommend criminal charges against the presumptive Democratic nominee for president.

“If a client came to me with these kinds of allegations related to their prior use of classified information, I would say, ‘You have less than a 20 percent chance of surviving,'” attorney Bradley Moss told The Hill on Monday.

But Kyle Shideler, director of threat assessment at the Center for Security Policy, told LifeZette that a President Clinton would likely be able to overrule whatever security concerns professionals in the federal government may have.

“I think the likelihood is probably pretty low.” However. according to Shideler, “It would absolutely be pretty substantial.”

The push to restrict Clinton’s aides comes in the wake of a Washington Post/ABC News poll that indicates that 56 percent of Americans disagree with FBI Director James Comey’s decision not to recommend criminal charges against the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. Some 57 percent said the email scandal makes them worried about the prospect of Clinton getting elected president.

Regardless of the likelihood of the government revoking credentials of Clinton’s aides, Shideler said, there are ample grounds to do so.

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“It really ought to happen,” he said. “If you look at the email issue, you see a callous disregard for classified information.”

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton, whose organization has sued to obtain Clinton’s email records, questioned suggestions that Clinton be denied classified national security briefings that presidential candidates routinely receive. He said Clinton’s conduct creates a “Catch-22,” because it is impractical to withhold such briefings to someone who might be president.

“The failure to enforce the law against her has created a bit of a crisis here,” he said.

As to clearances for Clinton’s aides, Fitton said, “It’s hard to know. But it is a political decision and in the end, they benefit from having a boss who thinks she did nothing wrong.”

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Clinton associates who could potentially be affected include:

• Huma Abedin, who has been with Clinton in various capacities since she was a White House intern assigned to the first lady in 1996 . She was deputy chief of staff at the State Department and serves as Clinton’s campaign chairwoman.
• Cheryl Mills, who was counselor and chief of staff during Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state. Prior that, she served as senior adviser and counsel to Clinton’s 2008 campaign and was deputy White House counsel during Bill Clinton’s presidency.
• Jake Sullivan, who served as the director of policy planning at the State Department under Clinton. He also served as deputy policy director for Clinton’s 2008 campaign and is the current campaign’s top foreign policy adviser. He reportedly sent “top secret” information to Clinton via her private email account.

Shideler said it is somewhat surprising that Abedin had security clearance even before the email scandal, given the fact that the Abedin family business was operating out of the London office of the Muslim World League, which the federal government investigated for possible ties to terrorism.