Regarding the despicable, rapidly-evolving situation involving Hillary Clinton, now popularly known as “EmailGate”…

The plot sickens.

According to thehill.com,

State Department BlackBerry devices issued to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s aides Cheryl Mills and Huma Abedin have likely been destroyed or sold off, the department said in a court filing on Wednesday.

Mills and Abedin “were each issued BlackBerry devices,” department Executive Secretary Joseph Macmanus wrote in the filing.

The department, however, “has not located any such device,” and believes that they would have been destroyed or removed from the department’s control.

“Because the devices issues to Ms. Mills and Ms. Abedin would have been outdated models, in accordance with standard operating procedures those devices would have been destroyed or excessed,” Macmanus added. State Department spokesman John Kirby confirmed later on Wednesday afternoon that the two former officials’ devices were returned to the department after they left office.

“They belong to the United States government, and when you leave an agency you just turn it in,” Kirby said. “So yes, they were turned in. Where they are now I couldn’t begin to tell you.

“It’s also likely, because this was a while ago, that those devices may have been destroyed,” he added. “I don’t have the records of it because they were old and outmoded and often times we purchase new devices” in those circumstances.

In the same court filing, the State Department confirmed its previous claim that Clinton used a personal BlackBerry during her time in office that was not issued by the federal government.

The State Department “does not believe that any personal computing device was issued by the department to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and has not located any such device at the department,” Macmanus wrote.

News of the Clinton aides’ devices adds to the growing scrutiny on the Democratic presidential front-runner and two of her top advisors, both of whom have been drawn into the fire surrounding the Clinton email furor.

The criticism has been a major drag on Clinton’s presidential campaign, and has provided a nearly endless supply of ammunition to her critics — including some Democrats. 

Wednesday’s filing came as part of a lawsuit from the conservative organization Judicial Watch, which is looking for documents related to Abedin’s employment arrangement while she served in the State Department.  

“The questions just keep popping up,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement. “Every time the State Department tries to justify its stonewalling, one more bit of information arises.”

A hearing in the case before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia is scheduled for Thursday afternoon. 

What does the leading Republican Presidential Hopeful think about the future of the individual who was supposed to be the Democratic President Candidate?

According to The Daily Mail,

Donald Trump believes Hillary Clinton could face significant jail time – ‘up to 20 years in prison’ – as a consequence of storing classified information on her now-infamous private email server. 

And a law that Clinton herself once voted for while she served in the U.S. Senate could come back to haunt her – and turn Trump into a criminal-justice prophet.

‘If you look at what’s going on with the emails, it’s a fraud if you think about it,’ the Republican presidential front-runner told The Hollywood Reporter in his first magazine interview since launching his unconventional White House bid.

‘This looks like Watergate on steroids, frankly,’ he said.’Watergate was about the cover-up more than the act.’

‘This isn’t something we’re going to solve tomorrow. This could go on for years. You can’t have a nominee who is under investigation. What are they going to do, run and then two nights before the presidential race she gets indicted?’

Trump pointed to the legal saga of Gen. David Petraeus as a cautionary tale for Clinton, saying the former CIA director, who was prosecuted for sharing classified information with his biographer-mistress, was a choirboy by comparison.

‘General Petraeus, for doing 5 percent of what she did, his life has been destroyed,’ Trump said. 

‘And it goes up to 20 years in prison. It’s from one to 20 years for what she did!’

The Hollywood Reporter noted that ‘it’s unclear what penalty Clinton might face if charged and convicted,’ but potential criminal charges could range from obstruction of justice to destroying documents, and even a long-shot bribery charge, according to a former federal prosecutor who asked not to be named ‘for political reasons.’

‘If she deleted a document – any document – “in contemplation of an investigation,” that’s a felony,’ the former prosecutor said. ‘It’s called tampering with evidence.’

‘And if anything in those deleted emails shows Clinton talking to people about donations for the Clinton Foundation in exchange for official acts, that’s bribery.’

The ‘ANTI-SHREDDING’ STATUTE WITH A 20-YEAR PRISON TERM 
‘Whoever knowingly alters, destroys, mutilates, conceals, covers up, falsifies, or makes a false entry in any record, document, or tangible object with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence the investigation or proper administration of any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States or any case filed under title 11, or in relation to or contemplation of any such matter or case, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.’ – 18 U.S.C. § 1519

The evidence-tampering statute, known in legal circles as 18 U.S.C. § 1519, carries a potential 20-year prison term.

It was part of the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate misconduct law, passed in 2002 – with a ‘yes’ vote from then-Senator Hillary Clinton.

Intended as an anti-shredding law, it makes a felon of anyone who ‘knowingly alters, destroys, mutilates, conceals, covers up, falsifies, or makes a false entry’ in an official record ‘with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence the investigation or proper administration of any matter … or in relation to or contemplation of any such matter or case.’

Clinton acknowledged directing her aides to destroy more than 30,000 emails before turning the remaining contents of her private server over to the State Department in late 2014.

At the time, Congress was investigating her actions related to the deadly 2012 terror attack in Benghazi, Libya, and Clinton was the subject of a congressional subpoena for documents.

A Clinton spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. 

Trump also told The Hollywood Reporter that he expects the power of his celebrity, his business acumen and his refusal to trade political favors for seven-figure contributions to carry him far into the presidential campaign.

‘If I weren’t a successful person, it wouldn’t work as well,’ he said. ‘Voters have great confidence in me because I really have been successful. I have an income of over $400 million a year. I don’t need anybody’s money.’

So, the first question on everyone’s mind is,

Did Hillary order those Blackberries destroyed?

Also, did Huma Abedin (Mrs. Anthony Weiner) share any of the information on that Blackberry with her relatives in the Muslim Brotherhood?

And, most importantly, how deep does this breach of both protocol and security go?

How many more “lapses” will be discovered?

Finally, when Hillary is called to account for all of this nonchalant malfeasance, will her response be,

It all depends on what your definition of “is” is?

Until He Comes,

KJ