It was a dichotomous moment in the 2016 race: Hillary Clinton, from the safety of a back room somewhere in New Jersey, told CNN’s Jake Tapper over the phone that she was eager to engage the media even as she dodged his questions as to why she had not, up to that afternoon at the end of May, held a press conference in 179 days.

“I believe that it’s important to continue to speak to the press as I’m doing right now,” the Democratic front-runner said as the network ran stock images of her past campaign appearances. She had not appeared on camera for an interview in weeks despite facing fierce criticism for her refusal to meet with a government watchdog that had spent more than a year probing her private email practices.

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