In July, the FBI announced it had finished its investigation and would recommend no charges against Clinton for her use of personal email during her tenure as Secretary of State. But newly discovered emails on the computer shared between Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) and his wife and Clinton’s top aide, Huma Abedin, have renewed the FBI’s interest in the case.
Many have said that the FBI should expand its role. One representative, Jim Soen (R-NE), went as far as reminiscing about the “good ole days” when the FBI investigated numerous individuals it deemed potential disturbances, like Martin Luther King Jr. “I could name several dozen individuals and organizations that are worthy of the FBI’s time,” said Nicolas Clossect (R-OK), who went on to list these organizations in painstaking detail.
One of the organizations on his list, however, is not necessarily one entity, but instead is “all student-run newspapers at major universities.” When asked why these types of organizations were included, Clossect said, “their work has been a thorn in the side of governments since they started realizing the Freedom of Information Act could actually be used for their benefit.” On average, he said, each newspaper submits multiple FOIA requests per year, while the government expected about zero due to the wide-encompassing guidelines that make almost all government work classified.
Given this fear of student journalism at the top levels of government, some have questioned why Comey hasn’t ordered investigations of student papers. The State-Run Media shares these concerns.
Some insiders believe it’s because the State-Run is too secure. According to the paper’s Web Editor Robert Satt, the paper’s communication systems, which are “an encrypted Facebook messenger chat, the occasional Snapchat and extremely dull and poorly attended face-to-face meetings” may be more secure than Clinton’s emails. “While there may be something worth taking a look at,” Satt scoffed, “I’d be impressed if they could find anything on us.”
A brief look demonstrates The State-Run Media’s lack of an online footprint. Their various social media platforms, including Twitter, Facebook and a personal website, remain largely unliked and unvisited. Furthermore, Wikileaks has yet to obtain any documents from them. Lack of Russian knowledge of the organization might be to blame, Satt said, but since most of their emails are “sharing Google docs, dank memes or spam,” he doubted leaks would be as devastating to their organization as it has been to the Clinton campaign.
With such little information to go on, Clossect has admitted that Comey should probably stay focused on Clinton. “While these kids are willing to leak their dating history and location to the public, they encrypt everything else.” Blaming the Millennial’s fascination with “devices that didn’t exist back in [his] day,” Clossect noted that perhaps, the government’s obsession with reading other people’s emails and phone calls would have to change to a focus on Snapchat and Instagram.
