Last night, David Axelrod told an audience on MSNBC that Hillary Clinton should answer all the questions about her private email account. Why did she have a private account only when the administration had a clear policy that government accounts were to be used to conduct government business and Mrs. Clinton had been briefed on this policy before assuming her office? Why did she have a private server for that account which had much less security than would be the case on the government servers or even most servers used by private email providers? How many emails did she send on that account during her years as Secretary of State? What's in all those emails? How many emails did Clinton send that she did not turn over to the State Department after a recent request for her to do so?
This may not sound like much, but here's the point: there is no way that David Axelrod would say such a thing without the blessing of the White House. Indeed, president Obama could not come out and say these things without appearing to attack Hillary. Even the White House spokesman Josh Earnest could not say these things without attacking Hillary. Instead, Obama used his old chief political advisor, sent him to a trusted media outlet (MSNBC), and had the words said in a way that Obama could deny responsibility. Some may think that this is a conspiracy theory, but those people do not understand how Washington, in general, and the Obama White House, in particular, work.
Corroboration of the fact that Obama is not going to help Hillary and is annoyed that she used the private email comes from the valley girl at the State Department. Marie Harf, the department's spokesman, said yesterday that State had no way of knowing if the 55,000 email turned over by Mrs. Clinton in response to State's recent request were ALL of Clinton's email sent in performance of her duties as secretary. Once again, Marie Harf is not the brightest bulb in the chandelier, but she knows how to follow orders. There is no way that she would say such a thing without prior clearance from above.
It's funny, in a way, that the response from Team Hillary has been to ask State to release her 55,000 emails to the public. The Obama team has already made that response comical. Harf's statement that there is no way to tell if the 55,000 emails are all the relevant emails makes Hillary's gesture a very empty one.
Think of it this way: Suppose Hillary sent three emails while secretary of state to the king of Saudi Arabia in which she thanked him for his contributions to the Clinton Foundation and also discussed some issue that had arisen between the USA and the kingdom. Those emails would be smoking guns that Hillary used her position to get cash from the Saudis. Now suppose that there were 55,003 emails sent by Hillary while secretary of state and her people turned over 55,000 to the State Department. Somehow, those three emails with the king just got omitted from the group turned over. Releasing the 55,000 emails to the public does not cure the problem. Hillary now has her own 18 minute gap in the tapes, and for Hillary, emulating Richard Nixon is not a good path to follow.
This may not sound like much, but here's the point: there is no way that David Axelrod would say such a thing without the blessing of the White House. Indeed, president Obama could not come out and say these things without appearing to attack Hillary. Even the White House spokesman Josh Earnest could not say these things without attacking Hillary. Instead, Obama used his old chief political advisor, sent him to a trusted media outlet (MSNBC), and had the words said in a way that Obama could deny responsibility. Some may think that this is a conspiracy theory, but those people do not understand how Washington, in general, and the Obama White House, in particular, work.
Corroboration of the fact that Obama is not going to help Hillary and is annoyed that she used the private email comes from the valley girl at the State Department. Marie Harf, the department's spokesman, said yesterday that State had no way of knowing if the 55,000 email turned over by Mrs. Clinton in response to State's recent request were ALL of Clinton's email sent in performance of her duties as secretary. Once again, Marie Harf is not the brightest bulb in the chandelier, but she knows how to follow orders. There is no way that she would say such a thing without prior clearance from above.
It's funny, in a way, that the response from Team Hillary has been to ask State to release her 55,000 emails to the public. The Obama team has already made that response comical. Harf's statement that there is no way to tell if the 55,000 emails are all the relevant emails makes Hillary's gesture a very empty one.
Think of it this way: Suppose Hillary sent three emails while secretary of state to the king of Saudi Arabia in which she thanked him for his contributions to the Clinton Foundation and also discussed some issue that had arisen between the USA and the kingdom. Those emails would be smoking guns that Hillary used her position to get cash from the Saudis. Now suppose that there were 55,003 emails sent by Hillary while secretary of state and her people turned over 55,000 to the State Department. Somehow, those three emails with the king just got omitted from the group turned over. Releasing the 55,000 emails to the public does not cure the problem. Hillary now has her own 18 minute gap in the tapes, and for Hillary, emulating Richard Nixon is not a good path to follow.
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