So far as we know, HRC didn't expose any information. During the time HRC was using her own email server, the official email server she was supposed to use was comprehensively owned up by Russian hackers. It is unlikely but plausible that her emails were safer on her servers.
The reason Justice didn't prosecute HRC was that it was too difficult for them to pursue a narrative around "intent". Comey at FBI wasn't making that part up: the previous cases on the record for negligent, rather than deliberate, exposure were not helpful to the prosecution: for one thing, in every case on the record, the line between "negligence" and "deliberation" was pretty vague --- each prosecuted person had deliberately done things with specific, known pieces of classified information that put them at risk. For another, in each of those cases, classified documents actually leaked (usually to the person who reported them). And finally, in most of the cases, the accused were not civilians and not part of the Intelligence Community.
Three things to know about classified information in the government:
1. Ordinary people who take jobs involving classified information are taught that the penalties for mishandling it are grave, and almost invariably involve prison time.
2. That training appears to be a lie, intended to scare people into being diligent about classified information.
3. There is a long history of leniency for people outside the intelligence community who mishandle classified information. The expectation seems to be that if you take 10 people from State and search their Hotmail accounts, you're going to find stuff.
I don't believe HRC received special treatment. If she had been at State when this story broke, and had been an ordinary employee, she'd have been fired. Termination is not prosecution. At any rate: she can't be fired now: she's already gone.
The reason Justice didn't prosecute HRC was that it was too difficult for them to pursue a narrative around "intent". Comey at FBI wasn't making that part up: the previous cases on the record for negligent, rather than deliberate, exposure were not helpful to the prosecution: for one thing, in every case on the record, the line between "negligence" and "deliberation" was pretty vague --- each prosecuted person had deliberately done things with specific, known pieces of classified information that put them at risk. For another, in each of those cases, classified documents actually leaked (usually to the person who reported them). And finally, in most of the cases, the accused were not civilians and not part of the Intelligence Community.
Three things to know about classified information in the government:
1. Ordinary people who take jobs involving classified information are taught that the penalties for mishandling it are grave, and almost invariably involve prison time.
2. That training appears to be a lie, intended to scare people into being diligent about classified information.
3. There is a long history of leniency for people outside the intelligence community who mishandle classified information. The expectation seems to be that if you take 10 people from State and search their Hotmail accounts, you're going to find stuff.
I don't believe HRC received special treatment. If she had been at State when this story broke, and had been an ordinary employee, she'd have been fired. Termination is not prosecution. At any rate: she can't be fired now: she's already gone.