NPR: Diane Rehms Show, Clinton Email, 05/31/2016 [View all]

[IdaBriggs]

http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2016-05-31/hillary-clintons-emails

Hillary Clinton has come under renewed scrutiny over her use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state. Last week the State Department’s inspector general released its report after investigating the matter. The report concluded that Clinton did not follow the requirements for handling records and should not have used a private server for department emails. Clinton’s critics were quick to say it underscores a lack of trustworthiness. Her defenders say she did little more than make a mistake by using a private server and there’s nothing in the inspector general’s report that’s very damaging. Diane and her guests discuss the continuing controversy over Hillary Clinton’s emails.

Guests

Brian Fallon, spokesman for the Clinton campaign
Eric Lichtblau reporter, The New York Times
Jonathan Turley professor of public interest law, The George Washington University Law School
Hilary Rosen Democratic strategist; managing director, SKDKnickerbocker, a political consulting and PR firm; and a CNN contributor

Okay, these are my notes written for you guys while listening. Feel free to listen yourself to clarify. Enjoy!



Brian Fallon spins as hard as he can, but sounds stupid. "She printed out a bunch of emails, and she answers questions, and Donald Trump is scary!" Diane Rehmes actually holds him to the questions, and makes it obvious he doesn't answer, especially "why didn't she do an interview with the State Inspector General?" The "because DOJ review" sounds weak and he means "FBI interview".

Turley is really good and points out she would have no way of knowing what Powell did in 2001-2005 while Rice didn't use ANY in 2005-2009, Lichtblau says "the IG report contradicts what she has said for the last year", Rosen says "no harm/no foul" and lies about the classification stuff. Turley says National Security concerns were egregious; he's had classification since Reagan years, and smacks Rosen's lies down HARD. He also had clearance during Hillary's tenure, so he knows the excuses are stupid. Lichtblau says the "no classification stamp isn't going to be a get out of jail free card". Rosen relies on the fact the Intelligence Community can't publicly complain about any damage her mistakes have caused. Then their is an argument about whether there is a trust issue - Rosen says she's admired, and Turley calls out the bad polls, spins and "errors in judgment". He also thinks she's been compromised by the Russians! Lichtblau talks about Guccifer and hacking attempts, along with Hillary refusing to go to a ".gov" account.

1st Caller: Very upset about "classified documents marked and unmarked' as a load of crap; he has two decades of experience with a Top Secret clearance" and never saw "retroactive classification" so he knows it's spin. Rosen says again "no harm/no foul" and Turley points out the Russians wouldn't be publicly bragging if they did. Allegations are there may have been "jumping the gap" between the "secure vs non-secure" systems, and that is so egregious -- "you're gone!"

Someone writes in saying they are okay with everything because "poor Hillary wants privacy". Then Rosen says Hillary has been using this email account since Bill left office, which we all know is a lie. Lichtblau points out "red herring" because no one cares about her personal emails; it's the work ones that are a problem. Then the FBI Director stuff gets brought up -- nothing new. Comey gets accolades for being trustworthy. The State Department was looking at procedures, and everything was clear. This will impact the criminal investigation.

2nd Caller: everybody knew she was using a private email, and it only became a big deal when she started running for president. Lichtblau says "untrue!" It was kept to her inner circle, and the damming part is when two staff were told "never speak of this again". Rosen says people should have said something to her in person.

Tweeter: how is it going to impact her in California or in the General? Answer: it depends what the DOJ says.

3rd Caller: Trump and Bernie are getting traction because of the trust issues and how she keeps lying. Rosen says "I don't understand accusations of her not being responsive."

4th Caller: 13 minutes of Hillary lying video is a sound byte against her. She's a woman, and being overly scrutinized. Poor Hillary!

Turley says stuff Hillary says is UNTRUE. He gives examples. Diane Rehmes says it's true she changes positions. Rosen says she's a lesbian and she doesn't like that Hillary is being held to account for "twenty years ago" and plus Hillary is smart.

Lichtblau says he'll stay away from policy, but he can say that Hillary's story has changed about email - aggressively "did no wrong" went to "everybody did it" to "maybe I made a mistake" to "aren't we all just sick of it?"

5th Caller: She doesn't handle these issues well; she just didn't want to have a trail. Trustworthy and character matter - voters need to know whether illegal stuff happened to disqualify her.

Turley says "intent to harm the nation" doesn't matter about INTENT because you don't play with classified information on a non-secure system. He also says Hillary is hurting herself by using "legally nonsensical" arguments ("it wasn't classified at the time&quot which just infuriate investigators who know better. Rosen feels sorry for the people at the campaign; the media is being mean when she needs to give the investigators space because "voters don't care - at least Democratic primary voters".

It ends with Bernie's quote about "let's forget about the damn emails" taken out of context.



It's not going away. Told you so.