On Thursday, March 2nd, a report revealed that Vice President Mike Pence used a private email account when he was the governor of Indiana. Predictably, the left has gone crazy over the report. They are accusing the Vice President of hypocrisy because of the Trump campaign’s constant criticism of Hillary Clinton’s email server scandal.

The left smells blood in the water. The problem? There is none.

Vice President Mike Pence’s use of a private email during his tenure as governor is not the same as Hillary Clinton’s situation. It isn’t even close.

Vice President Pence did not break any laws when he used a private email address. The Daily Caller notes: “Under Indiana state law, public officials are not prohibited from using personal email accounts, but are encouraged to preserve the exchanges for transparency reasons.” Pence’s office has stated that the former governor made sure his emails were being archived in accordance with Indiana state law. Their statement said: “Government emails involving his state and personal accounts are being archived by the state consistent with Indiana law, and are being managed according to Indiana’s Access to Public Records Act.”

Pence did not use his personal email to discuss classified matters. As a matter of fact, he did not even have the national security clearance to do so. Upon leaving his post as governor, he sought outside counsel and made sure all his email records were properly transferred to the state of Indiana. And most importantly, Pence never lied about his personal email use. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of Hillary Clinton.

Mrs. Clinton’s email situation in no way compares to that of the Vice President. Her lack of care with classified documents was injurious to U.S. national security. This is not the case with Mr. Pence.

Not only was Mrs. Clinton’s conduct illegal, but it was also dishonest.

Amanda Prestigiacomo of the Daily Wire notes:

While Pence may have used a private account from time to time, Hillary set up an unsecure server (less secure than a Gmail account per the FBI) and used it exclusively to handle both private and work-related emails, some of which contained classified information. All of this was in effort to evade public scrutiny, although she claims it was for reasons of “convenience.”

Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server was an egregious breach of her duty as secretary of state. She regularly handled classified information on her personal email. This information was transmitted using her unsecured personal server.

Of course, you know the old saw: it’s not the crime, it’s the cover-up. Hillary Clinton repeatedly lied about her use of a private email server. She continually claimed that she did not send classified information using her personal email. David French of the National Review writes:

She told falsehood after falsehood, earning Pinocchio after Pinocchio even from the left-leaning fact-checkers at the Washington Post. Some of the most egregious claims included falsely telling the public that she didn’t send or receive any classified information on her personal e-mail, and falsely telling the public that the FBI director himself had verified that her comments to the American people were truthful.

The statements she made to the media and the American public were abjectly false as FBI Director James Comey later confirmed. French also notes:

On March 10, 2015, she said, “I did not e-mail any classified material to anyone on my e-mail. There is no classified material.” On February 4, 2016, Clinton said she “never sent or received any classified material.” She repeatedly denied sending or receiving e-mails “marked classified” (a curious distinction, since she’s legally obligated to protect both marked and unmarked classified information).

Comparing Pence’s personal email use to Hillary Clinton’s is another ridiculous attempt to find scandals in the Trump administration that do not exist. Pence broke no laws when he used his personal email as governor. He was honest about it when his office was asked. There is no evidence of corruption in this story.

If the left wants to find a smoking gun, they will have to look elsewhere.