Conflicting Answers Show An Inability To Spin Latest Turn In Clinton Email Scandal

WHILE BLAMING THE FBI, CLINTON CAMP WON'T DENY THIS IS ACTUALLY HILLARY'S FAULT

In An Interview With CNN's Jake Tapper, Clinton Campaign Chair John Podesta Refused To Deny That Clinton Is Responsible For Recent FBI Revelations Because Of Her Use Of A Private Server. CNN'S JAKE TAPPER: "Do you accept the fundamental premise that the reason we're here is because Hillary Clinton and her inner circle, not including you, made a horrible decision to set up her private email server and everything that has happened since then is her fault?" CLINTON CAMPAIGN CHAIR JOHN PODESTA: "Well look, I think she's apologized for setting up an email server, said it was a mistake, said she wouldn't do it over again. I think she - you know, it's very clear that this has been an issue through the course of this campaign. I think she obviously would like to take that decision back, but she's learned from it, and I think what's important about this campaign at this stage with nine days to go is who's fit to be president, who has the experience, and the question of whether Donald Trump is too dangerous, too temperamentally unfit to be president of the united states. that's what we'll close in on and she's going to talk about the future she wants to build in building an economy that's going to work for everyone, and not just people at the top." (CNN's "State Of The Union," 10/30/16)

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WHILE DEFENDING HER, TEAM CLINTON HASN'T ASKED HUMA ABEDIN AT ALL ABOUT HER ACTIONS

Mook Refused To Answer Whether Clinton Had Asked Huma Abedin About New Email Scandal Revelations. FOX NEWS'S CHRIS WALLACE: "You talked about the responsibility to the American people to get all the information. There is someone who knows what's in all those e-mails and that is Huma Abedin. Has Secretary Clinton asked her what's in those e-mail." CLINTON CAMPAIGN MANAGER ROBBY MOOK: "Well, Chris, the problem with what you're saying there is we don't know. We don't know where these e-mails are from. You're making an inference it could have been Huma Abedin. Your guess is as good as anyone. This is why Director Comey needs to get all the information out there." WALLACE: "I'm asking you a direct question. Has Secretary Clinton asked Huma Abedin what was on that laptop that she shared with her husband Anthony Weiner?" MOOK: "She hasn't because you just offered a hypothetical on the table. Let me offer you some hypotheticals I've read in the press. I've heard a hypothetical that these e-mails have nothing to do with Hillary Clinton whatsoever, that she didn't send or receive any of them." WALLACE: "That doesn't matter. "It's still the question of what's in the e-mails. So why wouldn't she ask Huma Abedin, did you have e-mails on the laptop and what's in them? Why wouldn't she ask her?" MOOK: "Well Chris, you and I are on the same page here. I want to know what's in these e-mails too. Director Comey has put out a letter, it has three paragraphs, it says nothing about Huma Abedin. It says nothing about who these e-mails were to or from. He just says he has information that may be significant we don't even know if it is. you showed some of his testimony to Congress just now where they asked if there's significant information, would you reopen the case, and he said yes, we will take a look at it. The problem is we learned from Yahoo! News last night, we don't even think he's taken a look at any of this. We don't know if anybody has." WALLACE: "But again there is at least -- there's credible reporting out there that this came from the laptop of Anthony Weiner and Huma Abedin. Why on earth wouldn't Hillary Clinton say to her closest personal aide, was there any stuff on your laptop, and what was it?" MOOK: "Chris, again, I appreciate your question because people want answers. There's nothing about Huma Abedin in the letter that was sent out." WALLACE: "I know, but why wouldn't Clinton ask her?" MOOK: "Why wouldn't Clinton ask anybody? They could be e-mails from anybody in the world." WALLACE: "There are no reports it's anybody else except Huma Abedin." MOOK: "Again, you're putting out some hypotheticals. There are other hypotheticals that have been put out there." WALLACE: "It's on the front page of every paper, including, I suspect, Yahoo! news." (Fox News' " Fox News Sunday," 10/30/16)

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When Pressed By Tapper, Podesta Could Not Defend His Claim That Huma Abedin Had Cooperated Fully With Investigators. CNN'S JAKE TAPPER: "So as part of this Judicial Watch lawsuit, Huma Abedin had to testify under oath, and she said 'I looked for all the devices that may have had any of my State Department work on it and returned, gave them to my attorneys for them to review for all relevant documents, and gave them devices and paper.' Obviously this other computer was not included in that group. Have you asked Huma Abedin why she did not turn over this computer that is now being reviewed by the FBI?" CLINTON CAMPAIGN CHAIR JOHN PODESTA: "Look, I think Huma's been completely cooperative with the authorities, and they've recognized that, she's worked with her attorneys to turn over relevant material, but we don't know what this is all about really. So it's very hard…" TAPPER: "John, she hasn't been completely cooperative if she didn't turn over every device that had State Department emails on them and this one computer did." PODESTA: "I think it's clear, I think it's clear that she complied to the best of her ability to turn everything over that she had in her possession. I don't know anything more than the speculation that's running wild in the press now about what this is about. I've talked her…" TAPPER: "Have you talked to her? Have you asked Huma Abedin what is on the computer and why she didn't turn over when she said she had given all the devices?" PODESTA: "We don't know what computer Mr. Comey is talking about. You're assuming a lot of facts that we don't know. So I think that as I said she's been fully cooperative with the authorities, and they have recognized that, and you know, I think that the, you know, we could sit here and speculate and put facts into the record based on anonymous reports…" TAPPER: "I'm not speculating, sir. Our reporting, our reporting is that it was a laptop computer that belonged to Anthony Weiner, and they found State Department emails on that laptop. That's reporting, that's not speculation. You have access to Huma Abedin. I don't. Have you asked her how this…" PODESTA: "I don't think she knows anything more than what we've seen in the press to date. So you know, I'm sure if the, you know, if people, proper authorities want to ask her questions they'll ask her questions but she's been fully cooperative in this investigation." TAPPER: "She came off the campaign trail on Saturday. Is she still part of the campaign? Is she still…" PODESTA: "Of course." TAPPER: "Is she still working on the campaign?" PODESTA: "Absolutely. She's played a central and vital role in this campaign and she continues to do that and continues to do her work running our overall scheduling and advance operation, being a confidant to senior people in the campaign, and traveling with Hillary." (CNN's "State Of The Union," 10/30/16)

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And While Defending Actions They Don't Understand, Team Clinton Dodges On Whether Abedin Has Been Honest With Campaign

Campaign Director Robby Mook Would Not State With Full Confidence That Huma Abedin Has Been Completely Honest With The Campaign. NBC POLITICAL DIRECTOR CHUCK TODD: "Are you confident that Huma Abedin has been 100% forthcoming to you and Secretary Clinton?" CLINTON CAMPAIGN MANAGER ROBBY MOOK: "The Justice Department confirms that she was totally cooperative, all of the summaries of the interviews she gave are out there in the public. She has cooperated fully." TODD: "I understand that, you said that. I'm talking about you and the campaign. Do you feel as if she is, you feel like you have all the facts? You, Robby Mook?" MOOK: "I absolutely feel I have all the facts because all the facts were put out there. The summaries of the interviews, the Justice Department said that Huma fully cooperated. That's again why we are so puzzled right now. Just put the information out there so we can put this to rest. This campaign is supposed to be about the American people and their lives and what the next president is going to do for them." TODD: "Do you believe this…" MOOK: "This is clouding our ability to talk about this." (NBC's "Meet The Press," 10/30/16)

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TEAM CLINTON WAS TRIPPED UP ON ITS ORIGINAL CLAIM THAT THE FBI LETTER WAS PARTISAN

Mook Repeatedly Dodged On Clinton And Her Campaign Lying That The FBI Letter Only Went To Republicans In Congress. FOX NEWS'S CHRIS WALLACE: "Robby, I want to move on and ask you about Secretary Clinton's reaction. Here's part of what she said on Friday night." (CLIP) CLINTON: "If they are going to be sending this kind of letter that is only going original to Republican members of the House that they need to share whatever facts they claim to have with the American people." WALLACE: "Robby, why would she say something that is so flatly untrue? I have a copy here -- it's not very long, it's the letter that Comey sent to congress. On the front page, it's got the eight republican chairmen of the committees. If you turn it over, you have the eight top democrats on the committee. Why would she say it was just sent to the republicans when, in fact, it was sent to the republicans and democrats?" CLINTON CAMPAIGN MANAGER ROBBY MOOK: "You know, Chris, this has been really overhyped." WALLACE: "Well, she said it, I didn't." MOOK: "We were all surprised by this letter. She looked at the front page, and as you just said yourself, on the front page of that memo t lists those republican chairs. Were the Democrats CCed at the end? Absolutely, she looked at the front page. She acknowledged, we all acknowledge this was sent to everybody. Again, what we're concerned and disturbed by is Director Comey sent a letter saying we have some information, I don't know if it's significant, i don't know if it isn't, he didn't say where it came from, what it was about. He didn't even say whether these e-mails were sent or received by Hillary Clinton. Furthermore, another hypothetical out there is these are duplicates that have already been released. We need all the information, and Director Comey needs to get it out fast." WALLACE: "But Robby, I want to make one more point about this letter. You say it's hype. Comey sent the letter about 1:00 p.m. eastern time on Friday. Your campaign chairman, John Podesta, put out a statement at 3:45 p.m. in which he made exactly the same charge that this letter had been sent just to the republicans, not to the democrats. Three hour and 15 m later, Hillary Clinton makes the same charge. This was a talking point of your campaign and frankly was a dishonest talking point. MOOK: "Chris, if your question is whether democratic leaders were cced on that letter, the answer is absolutely yes." (Fox's News' "Fox News Sunday," 10/30/16)

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IN EMBARASSING FASHION, TEAM CLINTON CAN'T PUBLICLY ADMIT WHAT THEY PRIVATELY KNOW - CLINTON HAS LEARNED NOTHING FROM THIS ORDEAL

When Asked What Lessons Clinton Had Learned From Her Email Scandal, Podesta Could Not Name A Single One. CNN'S JAKE TAPPER: "Do you accept the fundamental premise that the reason we're here is because Hillary Clinton and her inner circle, not including you, made a horrible decision to set up her private email server and everything that has happened since then is her fault?" CLINTON CAMPAIGN CHAIR JOHN PODESTA: "Well look, I think she's apologized for setting up an email server, said it was a mistake, said she wouldn't do it over again. I think she - you know, it's very clear that this has been an issue through the course of this campaign. I think she obviously would like to take that decision back, but she's learned from it, and I think what's important about this campaign at this stage with nine days to go is who's fit to be president, who has the experience, and the question of whether Donald Trump is too dangerous, too temperamentally unfit to be president of the united states. that's what we'll close in on and she's going to talk about the future she wants to build in building an economy that's going to work for everyone, and not just people at the top." (CNN's "State Of The Union, "10/30/16)

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Why Can't They State What She's Learned? Because Leaked Emails Show This Is Just How Hillary Operates

Despite Being Confronted By WikiLeaks Emails Where He And Other Senior Clinton Aides Showed Alarm At The Clinton Email Scandal, Podesta Tried To Downplay The Scandal's Significance To Tapper. CNN'S JAKE TAPPER: "One of the things that's interesting and one of the things that Democrats in Washington, D.C. are debating, is whether or not Hillary Clinton has actually learned from this experience when it comes to, to people in her circle who enable bad decisions by the Clintons, and I am not necessarily including you in that group, but people inside her circle such as you and Neera Tanden and Robby Mook, people who are more of I would say more of a kind of new guard, even if you have a longstanding relationship with the Clintons, were stunned when word of the private email server was first reported by the New York Times in March of 2015. According to those stolen emails published by WikiLeaks, and I know you say this that this is the Russians and they're trying to influence the election, but regardless of that…" CLINTON CAMPAIGN CHAIR JOHN PODESTA: "It not me that says it, it's a lot of people who say it, including the government." TAPPER: "Okay, Intelligence professionals say that. Be that as it may, you wrote to Robby Mook on March 3 rd of 2015: 'did you have any idea of the depth of this story?' Neera Tanden, a Clinton ally, who is now co-chairing your transition, wrote 'why didn't they get this stuff out like 18 months ago? So crazy.' You responded 'unbelievable.' Neera Tanden wrote: 'I guess I know the answer they wanted to get away with it.' On July 25th of last year, Neera Tanden wrote: 'Do we actually know who told Hillary she could use a private email? And has that person been drawn and quartered?' You're acting like the server was just a simple mistake but these emails suggest that you and Robby Mook and Neera Tanden knew this was going to be a big problem." PODESTA: "Well look, it's easy with 20/20 hindsight. I think if someone had taken the steps and looked at it, if, you know, if, one would have definitely made a difference decision. But it happened. I think it was at the beginning, it was just done for convenience, but at the end of the day, it was a major problem. I think as I told you, I think she's learned from it. I've worked with her closely in this campaign. She takes hard advice, you know, she respects people who will get up in her face, and I think that the reason that I've kind of survived through the whole campaign is because that's the kind of person I am." (CNN's "State Of The Union," 10/30/16)

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