Audit finds Clinton email use broke federal rules
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Clinton and her team ignored clear guidance from the State Department that her email setup broke federal standards and could leave sensitive material vulnerable to hackers, a department audit has found. Her aides twice brushed aside concerns, in one case telling technical staff “the matter was not to be discussed further.”
The inspector general’s review on Wednesday also revealed that hacking attempts led forced then-Secretary of State Clinton off email at one point in 2011, though she insists the personal server she used was never breached. Clinton and several of her senior staff declined to be interviewed for the investigation.
Earlier this month, Clinton declared that she was happy to “talk to anybody, anytime” about the matter and would encourage her staff to do the same.
Opponents of her Democratic presidential campaign pointed to the audit as proof that Clinton has not been truthful about her private email use and fresh evidence she is not trustworthy or qualified to be commander in chief.
Campaigning in California, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump noted solemnly that Clinton had received “a little bad news” and then railed against her “horribly bad judgment.”
11 states sue for school transgender directive
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas and 10 other states are suing the Obama administration over its directive to U.S. public schools to let transgender students use the bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity.
The lawsuit announced Wednesday includes Oklahoma, Alabama, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Tennessee, Maine, Arizona, Louisiana, Utah and Georgia. It asks a North Texas federal court to declare the directive unlawful in what ranks among the most coordinated and visible legal challenges by states over the socially divisive issue of bathroom rights for transgender persons.
The Obama administration has “conspired to turn workplace and educational settings across the country into laboratories for a massive social experiment, flouting the democratic process, and running roughshod over commonsense policies protecting children and basic privacy rights,” the lawsuit reads.
Many of the conservative states involved had previously vowed defiance, calling the guidance a threat to safety while being accused of discrimination by supporters of transgender rights. U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch has previously said “there is no room in our schools for discrimination.”
The White House had no comment on the lawsuit. The Justice Department said it would review the complaint and did not comment further.
Obama, Abe heed politics of contrition on Hiroshima visit
SHIMA, Japan (AP) — Laying bare the complex politics of reconciliation and contrition, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday rejected the idea of visiting Pearl Harbor to reciprocate for President Barack Obama’s historic trip to Hiroshima later this week. Obama, for his part, said he would use his time in Hiroshima to honor all those killed in World War II and to push for a world without nuclear weapons.
The White House made clear well in advance of Obama’s arrival in Japan that the president would not apologize for the U.S. bombing on Aug. 6, 1945, that killed 140,000 people in Hiroshima and launched the nuclear age.
Abe, who met with Obama before the opening of a two-day summit of wealthy nations, was asked to reflect on the significance of the president’s trip to Hiroshima and whether he would in turn visit Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, where a surprise attack by the Japanese military on Dec. 7, 1941, killed more than 2,400 people, wounded scores and led the United States into the war.
Abe spoke first of the suffering of the Japanese people: “Numerous citizens sacrificed their lives. And even now, there are those of us suffering because of the atomic bombing,” he said. Their desire, he added, is for the world “never to repeat” such a tragedy, and he expressed hope that Obama’s visit would lend momentum to the goal of a nuclear-free world.
As for a visit to Pearl Harbor, Abe said: “At this moment I don’t have any specific plan to visit Hawaii.” He did not foreclose the idea of a visit entirely, but clearly sidestepped any suggestion that reciprocity was called for, as some have suggested.
Israel’s Netanyahu adds hard-liner to coalition
JERUSALEM (AP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu named one of Israel’s most polarizing politicians as defense minister on Wednesday, solidifying his parliamentary majority at the risk of antagonizing the international community and his own military — and clouding already slim hopes for a resumption of peace efforts.
The addition of Avigdor Lieberman to the Cabinet comes at a sensitive time. After a two-year breakdown in talks, France is preparing to host a conference next month aimed at restarting negotiations. At the same time, the U.S.-led quartet of international peace mediators is set to release a report expected to be critical of Israel.
While both Netanyahu and Lieberman pledged to pursue peace with Israel’s Arab neighbors, their tough positions on key issues, strained relationship with much of the international community and the makeup of the rest of the Cabinet would seem to make significant progress a long shot.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner expressed concerns with Israel’s right-wing tilt.
“This raises legitimate questions about the direction it may be heading in and what kind of policies it may adopt,” Toner told reporters.
