Jonah Patel
A Facebook post claimed that there have been far more criminal indictments under Republican presidents Trump, Reagan, and Nixon than under Democratic presidents Obama, Clinton, and Carter. The post stated that there were 317 indictments under the former and only three under the latter. This claim is mostly accurate, although the numbers of indictments under the Republican presidents are exaggerated. Two of Clinton's officials were indicted, while none of Obama's or Carter's were.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Number of Clinton's political campaign workers charged | 2 |
| Clinton campaign workers charged | Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros |
| Number of Obama's political campaign workers charged | 0 |
| Clinton campaign charges | Illegally profiting from involvement with a failed savings and loan with dealings in Arkansas real estate, Misreporting spending on research, Lying to the FBI |
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What You'll Learn
Clinton: 2 officials indicted, Obama: None
During Bill Clinton's time in office, two of his officials were indicted. Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy was charged (and later acquitted) over allegations that he accepted improper gifts from businesses and lobbyists. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros was convicted (and later pardoned) of making false statements to law enforcement about hush money payments to his former mistress.
In contrast, none of Barack Obama's campaign officials were indicted. However, Obama's first public comments regarding FBI Director James Comey's decision to publicly disclose the existence of certain emails caused controversy. Obama walked a careful line, refraining from explicitly criticising Comey but outlining a standard for conducting investigations that contrasted sharply with Comey's approach. Obama emphasised that he was trying to avoid meddling in an independent process and pointed to the FBI's earlier investigation of Clinton, which concluded that she should not be charged with a crime.
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Clinton's email scandal
During her tenure as the United States Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton drew criticism for using a private email server for official communications instead of an official State Department email account. This system was set up shortly before she was sworn in as Secretary of State in 2009.
Clinton's email system became a national story in March 2015 when the New York Times ran a front-page article on the subject, stating that the system may have violated federal requirements. The State Department's inspector general report, released in May 2016, confirmed that Clinton's email system violated government policy and that she did not receive permission to institute it.
The FBI launched an investigation into whether Clinton's use of a private email server broke the law, specifically whether classified information was transmitted on the server. The investigation found that Clinton's server did not contain any information or emails that were clearly marked as classified. However, federal agencies retrospectively determined that 100 emails should have been deemed classified, including 65 emails deemed "Secret" and 22 deemed "Top Secret". An additional 2,093 emails were retroactively designated as confidential by the State Department.
In July 2016, FBI director James Comey announced that the investigation had concluded that Clinton had been ""extremely careless"" but recommended that no charges be filed as she did not act with criminal intent. The FBI investigation received more media coverage than any other topic during the 2016 presidential election, in which Clinton was the Democratic nominee.
Eleven days before the election, Comey notified Congress that the FBI was examining newly discovered emails. Two days before the election, Comey announced that the FBI had not changed its original conclusion and that Clinton should not face criminal charges.
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Clinton campaign's agreement to pay a fine for Steele dossier funding
In March 2022, Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) agreed to pay $113,000 to settle a Federal Election Commission (FEC) investigation. The investigation was launched to determine whether Clinton and the DNC violated campaign finance law by misreporting spending on research that eventually became the infamous Steele dossier.
The dossier was compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele and financed by Democrats. It included unverified and salacious allegations about Donald Trump's conduct in Russia and alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. The dossier was written from June to December 2016 and contains allegations of misconduct, conspiracy, and cooperation between Trump's presidential campaign and the Russian government.
The Clinton campaign and the DNC argued that the payments had been described accurately but agreed to settle without conceding to avoid further legal costs. The Clinton campaign agreed to a civil penalty of $8,000, and the DNC was fined $105,000. In their settlement, the FEC also revealed that it dismissed related complaints against Steele, Perkins Coie, and Fusion GPS, who had all previously denied any wrongdoing.
The Steele dossier has been largely discredited since its publication, with core aspects of the material exposed as unsupported and unproven rumors. A special counsel assigned to investigate the origins of the Trump-Russia probe charged a cybersecurity lawyer who worked for Clinton's campaign with lying to the FBI during a 2016 meeting.
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Obama's careful response to Clinton's email scandal
During the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while serving as secretary of state became a major point of contention and discussion. FBI Director James Comey announced that the FBI investigation had concluded that Clinton was ''extremely careless" in her handling of classified information, but no charges were filed due to a lack of criminal intent.
President Barack Obama, in response to the controversy, carefully defended Clinton without explicitly criticising Comey. He emphasised that investigations should not be based on "innuendo, incomplete information, or leaks". Obama suggested that the issue was not significant, stating that Clinton had made an "honest mistake" and that her long career made her susceptible to such accusations.
Obama's careful response aimed to avoid the perception of meddling in an independent investigation while also defending Clinton from what he perceived as unfair attacks. He walked a fine line, expressing trust in the FBI's earlier conclusion that Clinton should not face charges while also acknowledging the potential impact of the revelations on the election.
Obama's measured approach stands in contrast to the reactions of other figures, such as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who stated that "if it was anyone other than Hillary Clinton, they'd be in jail right now". The email scandal ultimately derailed Clinton's campaign, with President Donald Trump repeatedly promising to "lock her up".
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Roger Stone's conviction for obstructing a congressional inquiry into Clinton's 2016 campaign
Roger Stone, a longtime adviser and confidant of Donald Trump, was convicted of obstructing a congressional inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election. The investigation specifically looked at allegations that Russia was involved in the publication of documents related to the 2016 election by WikiLeaks.
Stone was accused of having prior knowledge of WikiLeaks' publishing of Podesta's private emails, obtained by Russian hackers. He tweeted before the leak, "It will soon [be] the Podesta's time in the barrel". Five days before the leak, he tweeted, "Wednesday Hillary Clinton is done. #Wikileaks." Stone denied having any advance knowledge of the Podesta email hack or any connection to Russian intelligence, stating that his tweet was referring to reports of the Podesta Group's ties to Russia.
Stone was charged with one count of obstructing an official proceeding, five counts of making false statements, and one count of witness tampering. He was convicted on all seven felony counts and faced a prison sentence of up to 20 years.
Stone's conviction was related to his role as a middleman between the Trump campaign and WikiLeaks, which released stolen emails from the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. Stone was contacted by senior Trump campaign officials about information that would be damaging to the Clinton campaign.
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Frequently asked questions
Two Clinton officials were indicted. Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy was charged (and acquitted) over allegations that he accepted improper gifts from businesses and lobbyists. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros was convicted (and pardoned) of making false statements to law enforcement about hush money payments to his former mistress.
None.
Yes, there have been several investigations into Clinton's campaigns. One notable example is the FBI investigation into Clinton's use of a private email server when she was Secretary of State under President Obama.
Yes, there was also a Federal Election Commission investigation into whether Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee violated campaign finance law by misreporting spending on research that became the Steele dossier.
While there were no charges brought against members of Obama's campaign, there have been criticisms of Obama administration officials for allegedly being sloppy with sensitive government information.
