Clinton Campaign's Response to Republican Accusations Regarding the Execution of Shahram Amiri

Republican Senator Tom Cotton and Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, have linked Hillary Clinton's use of a personal server regarding her emails to the execution of Shahram Amiri in Iran. Clinton's campaign states that "these accusations are absurd" and stem from the "desperate discourse" of her opponents. Clinton's Republican rival and critics have repeatedly raised the issue of her use of a personal server for official emails while she was Secretary of State. When Shahram Amiri was in the United States, Clinton was the Secretary of State. She is now the Democratic candidate for the presidential election, and her campaign has described the criticisms as stemming from the "desperation" of her rivals regarding the main issues facing the American people. Senator Cotton, on August 8, mentioned two emails exchanged between Clinton and her aides on CBS, stating, "This indicates her (Clinton's) extreme carelessness in using her personal server to maintain classified emails." Donald Trump also tweeted without details, saying, "Many people say that the Iranians killed the researcher who helped the U.S. because of Hillary Clinton's hacked emails." The Associated Press referred to two emails that were revealed last year; in one, Richard Morningstar, Clinton's Eurasia Energy Advisor, wrote to her, "We have a diplomatic, 'psychological' issue. Not a legal issue. Our friend should be allowed to leave. Our person cannot do anything anyway. If he wants to leave, let him." In another email from Jake Sullivan, another official at the State Department, it was stated, "He (in English: gentleman)... has gone to the office protecting his country's interests because he is dissatisfied with the time it has taken to arrange his exit... This issue could lead to problematic news within the next 24 hours." In July 2010, Iranian media reported that Shahram Amiri had "defected" to the Iranian Interests Section at the Pakistani Embassy. Shortly after, Hillary Clinton, the then Secretary of State, stated that he "traveled to the U.S. freely and is free to return to the U.S." According to Clinton, the decision to travel to the U.S. and return to Iran was made solely by Mr. Amiri. During the time he was missing and the news of his presence in the U.S. was eventually published, conflicting reports and videos of him were released; he was reported to have defected to the U.S., he stated in one video that he had been "kidnapped," and in another video, he said he went to the U.S. for education. The Associated Press reported that some U.S. officials stated that he was offered $5 million to provide information to the CIA, but he left the U.S. without accepting the money. Upon Shahram Amiri's return to Iran, the then Foreign Ministry welcomed him at the airport. However, now the spokesperson for the judiciary states that the reason for his execution was that he "provided vital information to the enemy by connecting with the U.S." The accusations against Clinton by Republican figures have prompted a response from Hillary Clinton's campaign. According to CNN, this campaign accused Donald Trump and his supporters of "increasing desperate discourse to attack Hillary Clinton and making absurd accusations due to a lack of ideas for the American people." Jesse Lerich, a spokesperson for the Clinton campaign, also told the Washington Post that these accusations, like some others, stem from "Trump's campaign's interest in promoting conspiracy theories." Elizabeth Trudeau, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, told reporters on August 9 that the issue of Amiri was not something that had come to public attention when the State Department made the emails public. Trudeau also stated that none of the emails related to Shahram Amiri were "classified."