The problem with any claims that Hillary will be indicted is simple — Hillary Clinton had the authority to classify and declassify information. This is all contained in President Obama’s executive order providing uniform standards under which information should be classified:
(2) agency heads and officials designated by the President
In other words, Hillary Clinton.
And who can declassify documents?
(1) the official who authorized the original classification, if that official is still serving in the same position and has original classification authority;
(2) the originator's current successor in function, if that individual has original classification authority;
(3) a supervisory official of either the originator or his or her successor in function, if the supervisory official has original classification authority;
In other words, Hillary Clinton had the authority to declassify documents if she or one of her people classified the documents in the first place. In other words, neither she nor her people did anything in violation of the law that we know of.
Can she declassify documents which did not originate in her office? It depends.
(4) officials delegated declassification authority in writing by the agency head or the senior agency official of the originating agency.
(c) The Director of National Intelligence (or, if delegated by the Director of National Intelligence, the Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence) may, with respect to the Intelligence Community, after consultation with the head of the originating Intelligence Community element or department, declassify, downgrade, or direct the declassification or downgrading of information or intelligence relating to intelligence sources, methods, or activities.
In other words, if the Department of Energy has information that Hillary Clinton could use in a negotiation, they could give her permission to declassify information. Or, if there is something that she thinks should be public knowledge, she could go to the Director of National Intelligence. The DNI did note that there was stuff that should have been classified; however, that was an opinion stated after the fact. So, that explains why the FBI investigation is so complicated. Who gave her permission to declassify information that did not originate with her office? Or her subordinates? These are structural issues, not necessarily criminal issues.
Furthermore, while there is an FBI investigation in progress, we know that Hillary Clinton is not the target of that investigation. That is because as a US Citizen, everyone has a right to know this information. So, Hillary is likely telling the truth when she says she is not a target. The White House, which would be in a position to know, is also saying she is not a target. Most likely, in addition to protocol for who gave or didn’t give the target is something totally different. We know from news reports that there were allegations that Hillary’s server was hacked. We know that there were attempts at it. So, it is likely that the FBI is seeking to find out who is doing the hacking and why. That is why Hillary Clinton is telling the truth when she says that this is a security review.
Much was made about the recent OIG report on Hillary Clinton. She exercised poor judgement in her security choices, as she herself acknowledges. However, the Office of Inspector General can and does conduct criminal investigations on its own; they can and do make criminal referrals. I worked briefly for the Census Bureau once, and we are required to report any violations of the law that we observe. The fact that they did not see fit to do so in Hillary’s case shows that the problem is structural, not criminal.
But if we are to blame someone for this mess, let’s blame the Republicans. For all their tough talk about Benghazi, the Moonie Times notes that the Benghazi Attacks happened after the GOP cut security for the State Department. On a side note, the GOP has nobody to blame but themselves for that fiasco and these endless hearings are simply an evasion of responsibility for their share of the blame. So, Hillary’s decision to use a private server, while it involved poor judgement, was understandable given the refusal of the GOP to fully fund the State Department’s security needs, putting our national security at risk. Therefore, it did not involve gross negligence on her part and therefore, does not merit criminal charges.