“Scathing.” “Stark.” The network morning shows on Thursday used troubling words for Hillary Clinton as her evolving e-mail scandal has reached a point where even ABC, CBS and NBC find it hard to minimize. All three morning shows trumpeted the news that a State Department inspector general report found Clinton violated federal rules by using a private server.

Good Morning America’s Cecilia Vega fretted, “This certainly does not come at a good time for Hillary Clinton as she struggles with those trust and favorability numbers...” Vega offered this revelation: “Clinton has said her private server was never hacked, but the report claims there was an attempted hack citing multiple staffers who sounded alarms, one instructing the team not to e-mail Clinton anything sensitive.”

Over on CBS This Morning, Charlie Rose blasted, “Hillary Clinton faces a new campaign hurdle for her use of private e-mail as Secretary of State. The State Department's independent watchdog yesterday issued a scathing report. It finds Clinton's e-mail practices violated federal standards.”

Cordes pointed out Clinton’s old statements, such as this one: “Everything I did was permitted. There was no law, there was no regulation.” The correspondent added, “The [IG] report contradicted that assertion.”

Even the usually Clinton-friendly Andrea Mitchell on Today offered dour news: “The State Department report, Matt, undercuts key arguments that Hillary Clinton has been making for more than a year, even as she's trying to persuade voters that she is not untrustworthy. Hillary Clinton, grappling with the growing political fallout over her e-mails.”

Echoing Rose, Mitchell noted, “The scathing report taking aim at Clinton for using only a private home e-mail server as Secretary of State.” Co-host Matt Lauer highlighted the “e-mail scandal that just won't go away.”

Of course, the networks threw a lifeline to another prominent Democrat. There was no mention of Barack Obama in these stories. After all, this is his State Department. As CNN’s Jake Tapper noted in March, Obama’s administration has not been open or transparent when it comes to openness or transparency.

Additionally, the obvious follow-up question is how long will journalists continue this level of intense interest in Clinton’s e-mail scandal? Will they follow-up and keep reporting?

A transcript of the Today segment is below: