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     In the high-tech, information age we live in, discovering eye-opening truths about the world we live in has become easier than ever. Whether it’s through WikiLeaks, newspapers or merely speaking out, the advent of the internet and anonymity has made reports of government corruption and scandal a regular occurrence for the people.
     In this election, corruption and scandal have been at the forefront, revolving around the private server that Democratic Presidential Nominee Hillary Clinton forwarded her emails through during her time as Secretary of State from 2009-2013.
     In short, Clinton preferred to not have a state department email address and server, rather having all her emails forwarded to a personal email that came to a private server in her family’s home, outside the state department.
     When the House Committee investigating Benghazi asked to see Clinton’s emails in 2014, her lawyers turned over 30,000 emails from the server, then deleted the remainder.
     An FBI probe into the server and emails revealed that at least 100 classified emails were sent to the server, seven of which were top secret; Clinton’s server had no encryption safeguards to stop anyone from hacking the sever.
     The FBI also probed into her equipment to see if there was evidence of hacking. A total of 11 of 13 Blackberries are unaccounted for — two of which were smashed with a hammer, according to Vox.com — as well as, three of five iPads, one thumb drive and a laptop.
     This past July, FBI Director and registered Republican James Comey testified that Clinton was extremely careless in her handling of emails, but could not find that Clinton committed any wrongdoing, as they couldn’t prove she knowingly exchanged classified information.
     Since then, Clinton’s credibility has been continually attacked, and rightfully so; even those who defend her have a hard time excusing the tremendous risks she took, even now as the judicial committee has granted immunity to her top advisors involved with the emails.
     As the scandal thickens with every probe from the house committee; the focus of the public on Clinton as the problem wrongly continues to narrow. It stands to mention that Clinton is not the only culprit of using personal discretion while holding government office, especially of the president.
     Prior to the Commander and Chief interviews last week, an email letter from former US Four Star General and Secretary of State Colin Powell to Clinton revealed that Powell operated a similar operation, in which he got a personal line patched to the department that he could dial close friends on, to which he also conducted business with foreign leaders on. The same occurred on the road, in hotels.
     According to the Wall Street Journal, Florida Governor Jeb Bush released emails in 2015 from his time in office, from both his personal and state accounts. Not all emails were released and Bush used his own discretion at which matters would be stored where.
     Also on the list of Republican officials to use private email accounts for state business are: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie,  Texas Governor Rick Perry and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal — all of which were presidential contenders who were not put under as much scrutiny as Clinton.
     Anyone who has ever seen “All the President’s Men” knows that political back door dealings are a integral part of government, and if left uncovered, leads to decisions that the general public would disapprove of.
     In the case of Clinton, the FBI confirmed that the emails turned over didn’t reveal anything to be scathing; there’s no evidence Clinton backstabbed someone at the State Department, or forwarded emails to terrorist organizations, or funneled money or partook in nepotism. She’s just been described as extremely careless and ignorant to knowing how phishing software and encryption works. Much like some parents call their child to tell them how to make a Facebook post or turn their read receipts off on an iPhone. Some people simply don’t know.
     Pleading ignorance is not an excuse to this problem, rather a blatant hole in the foundation of government security.
     One thing Clinton is definitely guilty of is being an aging citizen, unfamiliar with technology that has been exponentially developed within the last decade. This is why there is a Department of State, and why the country has organizations like the FBI, CIA and NSA.
     Where were all these government agencies when it was realized that Clinton didn’t have a “.gov” email address? Where were these agencies when Clinton changed cell phones and laptops? With the amount of data collected by the NSA on the average American system,  could it really not figure out where Clinton was networking from?
     Using private servers happens regularly among government officials. Whether it’s discussing sensitive matters with the public, dignitaries or anyone else, private emails are constantly used in government because they cannot be tracked. And if they are desired, those being investigated can often use their discretion in submitting them. The system is inherently broken and built to create such scandals.
     Clinton has gone on record saying she relied on her staffers to delineate what was confidential or not; she admitted that she didn’t know how the computer systems worked and was unfamiliar with cyber security. She has come clean in this scandal that has rocked the 2016 campaign.
     But the narrow focus on Clinton is just a distraction from the larger problem that will remain, regardless of whether or not Clinton is elected: government employees’ freedom to talk on private devices.