Hillary rejects FBI's email findings

Hillary Clinton

In a denial that could end up as memorable as Bill Clinton's "it depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is," Hillary Clinton and her presidential campaign are insisting the FBI didn't conclude that she mishandled classified information.

Clinton's campaign manager, Robby Mook, told MSNBC there wasn't any classified information sent over her unsecured private email system.

That's after the presidential candidate herself claimed in an interview over the weekend that she heard FBI Director James Comey say her statements concerning her emails system and her handling of classified information were truthful.

In fact, Comey told members of Congress that Clinton was "extremely careless" in handling classified emails.

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While determining he would not recommend criminal charges, he found Clinton had sent or received dozens of emails that were classified at the time they were sent.

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And he said the former secretary of state did not turn over thousands of work-related emails to the State Department.

On Monday, Mook responded to MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, who said: "She was forcing everybody that wanted to communicate with her to move out of the classified realm, where you send classified information, and then put it on their own servers and send it to her. Isn't that even worse?"

Mook shot back: "You'd understand this, that's simply not true. You just don't send classified information over the unclassified system."

When Scarborough responded, "You would understand this: the FBI director said she did," Mook ignored the FBI's conclusion that more than 100 email threads contained classified information "that was classified at the time they were sent."

Mook was just doubling down on what Hillary Clinton said over the weekend in an interview with Chris Wallace:

Comey, she claimed, "said my answers were truthful."

"Director Comey said my answers were truthful, and what I've said is consistent with what I have told the American people, that there were decisions discussed and made to classify retroactively certain of the emails."

The Washington Post, however, gave the statements a "four Pinocchios" rating.

Explained the report: "Clinton is cherry-picking statements by Comey to preserve her narrative about the unusual setup of a private email server. This allows her to skate past the more disturbing findings of the FBI investigation.

"For instance, when Clinton asserts 'my answers were truthful,' a campaign aide said she is referring to this statement by Comey to Congress: 'We have no basis to conclude she lied to the FBI.'"

But when House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, asked whether Clinton had lied to the American public, Comey said: "That's a question I'm not qualified to answer. I can speak about what she said to the FBI."

At the Independent Journal-Review, Justin Green concluded Clinton "didn’t tell the truth about her emails, and she’s still not telling the truth about her emails."

"Comey was saying that Clinton hadn't lied to the FBI. While the FBI would not release any transcript or recording of its interview with Clinton, all the director was saying is they had no evidence of her lying … to them."

Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., had a terse exchange with Comey in a House hearing:

"Secretary Clinton said there was nothing marked classified on her emails, either sent or received. Was that true?" Gowdy asked.

Comey: "That's not true."

Gowdy: "Secretary Clinton said, 'I did not email any classified material to anyone on my email, there is no classified material.' Was that true?"

Comey: "There was classified material emailed."

Gowdy: "Secretary Clinton said she used just one device. Was that true?"

Comey: "She used multiple devices."

Gowdy: "Secretary Clinton said all work-related emails were returned to the State Department. Was that true?"

Comey: "No, we found work-related emails, thousands … "

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Regarding Bill Clinton ''s infamous "is" statement, Slate's Timothy Noah wrote in 1998 that the "distinction between 'is' and 'was' was seized on by the commentariat when Clinton told Jim Lehrer of PBS right after the Lewinsky story broke, 'There is no improper relationship.'"

It turned out, he wrote, that Bill Clinton "really is a guy who's willing to think carefully about 'what the meaning of the word 'is' is.'

"This is way beyond slick."

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