Exclusive–Rep. Ratcliffe: Congress Must Toughen Classified Document Laws Hillary Clinton Exploited

Rep. John Ratcliffe tells Breitbart News he is leading the fight to tighten laws regarding the handling of sensitive government information, so that no one else can dodge prosecution as Hillary Clinton has for her mishandling of classified electronic correspondence.

“It’s simply unacceptable that our justice system failed to hold one of our country’s highest ranking federal officials accountable for jeopardizing our national security,” says the Republican congressman and former federal terrorism prosecutor. Ratcliffe was the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas under President George W. Bush, where he had a specific focus on national security.

Clinton, the 2016 Democratic nominee for president, showed disregard for routine and standard procedures for handling classified documents that was reckless, Ratliffe says.

Documents under her protection relating to American operations in Libya were found on a Romanian server, he said. “If this is the precedent, if this is the standard – what’s to prevent this same level of extreme carelessness in the future? What’s to stop the reckless disregard for the sensitivity of classified information from again jeopardizing the lives of Americans in harm’s way?”

This is why Congress must act, he said.

“The newly revealed link between Clinton’s private email server and Romanian actors further underscores the need to ensure her reckless behavior will never be allowed again – especially without punishment,” the congressman said.

“The American people deserve to know that their government is taking every measure possible to keep us safe, and ensuring that the extreme carelessness demonstrated by Hillary Clinton will never again go unpunished is of paramount importance,” he said.

“As newly released details establish an even more direct link between Clinton’s private server and foreign actors, I urge my colleagues in Congress to join me in taking action to tighten the laws that allowed her to avoid prosecution by supporting the Classified Information Protection Act of 2016,” he said.

The congressman, who is a member of the House Judiciary Committee, filed the bill Sept. 14 and it was referred to Judiciary’s Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations Sept. 27 for further consideration.