Hillary Clinton’s continued silence in response to questions regarding her use of a personal email account when she was secretary of state has forced the Washington Post’s editorial board to draw the line, with the group declaring this week that it’s time for the former first lady to stop “stonewalling.”
I want the public to see my email. I asked State to release them. They said they will review them for release as soon as possible.
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) March 5, 2015
“A paramount test for those running for president is how they make decisions — how they absorb information, what principles they carry and how it is all processed to a final choice,” the Post’s editorial board wrote Monday.
But the former New York senator and presumed 2016 Democratic presidential candidate doesn’t appear to recognize that she is having a “revelatory moment” of her own, her reaction thus far to a scandal involving her exclusive use of an unauthorized email account to conduct official state business revealing what appears to be a major disconnect.
“Dispatching friendly politicians and former aides to television news shows to dismiss the issue as just politics does not help her cause,” the Post said. “If she wants to demonstrate the strength of character and judgment required to be president, Ms. Clinton should hold a news conference and answer all the unanswered questions about her emails.”
The board noted that Clinton’s team has turned over nearly 55,000 pages of her personal state emails to government officials — but that was only after authorities requested the messages.
“Ms. Clinton must know that the State Department will follow the Freedom of Information Act process to release her emails, requiring that they be scrutinized for sensitive information and that other agencies be consulted — a lengthy process, not likely to result in release any time soon,” the Post’s board said.
Further, the emails given to the State Department were all hand-picked by her staff. Little is known about the emails that have been withheld or the criteria Clinton’s team used for deciding which messages would be transferred to federal authorities.
“All of this reveals a cavalier attitude to the public’s legitimate claim on government records,” the Post said.
To date, Clinton has touched on the topic only faintly, saying in a 26-word tweet: “I want the public to see my email. I asked State to release them. They said they will review them for release as soon as possible.”
Clinton’s 130-character response to the mountain of questions surrounding her “homebrew” email system, which may have compromised the security of numerous state secrets, has been met with mostly bipartisan criticism.
“The tweet also does not address a number of questions that Ms. Clinton should answer: Why did she use a private account? What discussions did she have with advisers and other State Department or White House officials about it? How many messages, if any, have been omitted from those turned over to the department? Will she permit a neutral arbiter — say, from the National Archives — to examine any withheld messages?” the Post’s editorial board asked.
The Washington Post is joined in its criticism of Clinton’s meager tweet by reporters and pundits from groups including MSNBC, Fox News and the New York Times, leading to rumors Clinton is seriously considering addressing the issue in full later this week.
“We hope she seizes the opportunity to be forthcoming,” the Post said, referring Clinton’s rumored forthcoming presser.
The Post’s harsher tone this week comes after it and the editorial boards of theNew York Times, USA Today and the Wall Street Journal all reacted unanimously last week in calling on the former first lady to come clean over the email scandal.
