Reporters and pundits were stunned this week to learn that Hillary Clinton conducted official government business from a personal email account when she served as Secretary of State, but it didn’t take long for her supporters in the media to regroup and launch a counteroffensive.
As Clinton’s personal team scrambled Wednesday to explain how she conducted often confidential business from an account of dubious security, the far-left non-profit group Media Matters rushed to downplay the growing scandal, which was first reported by the New York Times.
“The piece didn’t stand up to scrutiny after it was published,” Media Matters founder David Brock said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Wednesday, referring also to the Times report as “sloppily done” and “based on a false premise.”
He later called on the Grey Lady to issue a correction, much to the apparent befuddlement and amusement of the MSNBC hosts.
Earlier, MSNBC’s Ed Schultz suggested the Clinton email story may be an intricate plot devised by Republican operatives to undermine the likely 2016 Democratic presidential candidate.
“Now, Clinton is being questioned for the use of her personal e-mail account while she was Secretary of State. I got one word for you here, Benghazi,” he said Tuesday evening, referring to the deadly terrorist attack on a U.S. Consulate on Sept. 11, 2012. MSNBC hosts are highly critical of Republican probes of that incident during Clinton’s tenure at the head of the State Department, in which the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three others were killed in a poorly protected compound.
“I mean, it just so predictable,” Schultz said. “You know, I’m surprised the Republicans haven’t called for a full investigation on this already.”
Following news that Clinton had conducted State business from a personal account, likely 2016 Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush, who has already released public emails from his time as Florida governor, dinged the former secretary of state on Twitter: “Transparency matters. Unclassified @HillaryClinton emails should be released.”
In response to criticism of this sort, separate pro-Clinton groups, including Correct the Record and American Bridge, joined with Media Matters in defending Clinton from suggestions she acted unethically and unlawfully as secretary of State.
A 17-page document obtained by National Review revealed Wednesday a series of talking points being circulated to reporters covering the email scandal, the document noting that Republican governors have in the past also used personal email accounts:
The line from pro-Clinton groups — that there are comparisons between Bush’s use of a personal account along with his government account and Clinton’s exclusively conducting State business from an unauthorized and likely unsecured personal account — has since been repeated by a reporters and pundits.
“Romney used [a personal] email for Mass state biz in office,” CNN contributor Sally Kohn said, adding that former Gov. Rick Perry, R-Texas, even “deletes all emails after [seven] days.”
“Jeb Bush used his personal account to conduct state, political & personal business. His team released state business emails to the public,” MSNBC’s Kasie Hunt reported. “Jeb Bush owns the server that hosts his personal email, his spokeswoman says.”
“But this is different. Jeb isn’t a Clinton. Why would we cover his private email server the same as hers?” CNN contributor and Democratic strategist Paula Begala said.
Brock accused the media of employing a “double standard” in coverage of Clinton’s unusual email arrangement, which appears to flout federal laws regarding government correspondence and record-keeping.
Other Clinton supporters have begun pushing the theme that what appears to be an abuse of power is actually an example of empowerment for the former first lady and New York senator.
“The Hillary grow-your-own-email-server thing is deeply disturbing, possibly illegal but [you] know a teensy bit badass,” Politico’s Glenn Thrush gushed.
This line of defense echoes an earlier pro-Hillary hubbub, when Clinton’s January 2013 Senate testimony on the Benghazi tragedy — an appearance that included the now-famous outburst “What difference, at this point, does it make?” — was widely praised as an example of a female official standing up to “mansplaining” by elected officials.
But the Benghazi example also indicates Clinton’s email troubles aren’t going away anytime soon. A House committee investigating the Benghazi attacks announced Wednesday that it will subpoena emails from the “homebrew” setup she installed in her home when she served as secretary of state.
“President Obama frequently promised that his would be ‘the most transparent administration in history.’ Perhaps he forgot to mention this commitment to his first secretary of state?” House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said in a statement after the committee announced its intention to subpoena the emails.
“How many emails were in Mrs. Clinton’s account is not clear, and neither is the process her advisers used to determine which ones related to her work at the State Department before turning them over,” he said.
