Re: Earned Media Update

I'm good with that. Just think we should emphasize that they are not just wasting time they are wasting your money. On Mar 16, 2015 6:46 AM, "Joel Benenson" <jbenenson@bsgco.com> wrote: > Maybe a continued waste of taxpayers' money while the Republicans in > Congress continue to block anything that would help everyday Americans get > ahead. > > Joel Benenson > Benenson Strategy Group > > On Mar 16, 2015, at 6:29 AM, John Podesta <john.podesta@gmail.com> wrote: > > I think we should be calling this millions of dollars of taxpayer > funded oppo research. > On Mar 15, 2015 5:13 PM, "Jesse Ferguson" <jesse@jesseferguson.com> wrote: > >> Hello All – Two quick things. >> >> >> >> 1) As you may have seen, ABC News reporting that Speaker Boehner >> and Republicans in Congress are pledging more investigation into Secretary >> Clinton on emails. Below are the key points we’re sharing with Hill allies >> and TV surrogates this afternoon to get ahead of it and frame it as crazy >> GOP investigations AND GOP hypocrisy. We’re trying to push folks to go >> after them. >> >> 2) Everyone asked on our last Comm call for more offense against >> GOP. While we can’t do it perfectly before campaign is launched, we’ve had >> some success working with partners getting stories on Jeb and others. Clips >> attached. >> >> >> >> Thanks. We’ll try to keep these Earned Media Updates as often as we can. >> >> >> >> *POINTS* >> >> >> >> *While it was permitted for Secretary Clinton to use one blackberry >> instead of two, looking back she’s said it would have been better for her >> to use two. At the time, this just didn’t seem like an issue. She’s asked >> State Department to publicly release all of roughly the 55,000 printed >> pages of emails she provided them. * >> >> >> >> · Secretary Clinton was the first and only former Secretary to >> respond to the Department's request last year, and was the only one to >> provide her work emails. >> >> · Secretary Clinton has asked the Department to make her work >> related emails publicly available, and just like every other Cabinet >> Secretary and U.S. government official, she gets to choose to keep her >> personal emails private. >> >> · Charlie Cook wrote that: “This is the classic kind of >> inside-the-Beltway, process story that politicos and reporters get in a >> lather over, but that resonates very little with average voters." >> >> >> >> *This isn’t about emails, it’s about Trey Gowdy furthering a partisan >> witch-hunt and Republicans in Congress distracting from their dangerous >> letter to the Iranian regime. *There have been nine different >> Congressional committees that have held hearings on Benghazi . >> Secretary Clinton spent more than five hours testifying before the >> Senate and the House of Representatives and participated in briefings >> for Members. >> >> · Gowdy has been criticized for subpoenaing the State Department >> for emails already turned over to the Select Committee. >> >> · Gowdy and Republican have been caught numerous times trying to >> use the Benghazi investigation to fire up their base and raise money. >> >> >> >> *Republican Hypocrisy on Emails. They want to hold former Secretary >> Clinton to a different standard than they’d hold themselves.* >> >> >> >> Washington Post: “Jeb Bush used his private e-mail account as Florida >> governor to discuss security and military issues such as troop deployments >> to the Middle East and the protection of nuclear plants, according to a >> review of publicly released records.” [Washington Post, 3/15/15] >> >> >> >> Wall Street Journal: “ But much like with Mrs. Clinton, the decision >> over which emails should be considered official and which remain private >> was made by Mr. Bush. It is unclear how many emails Mr. Bush withheld >> because he deemed them unrelated to state business. “He did exactly what >> Hillary did,” said Barbara Petersen, president of the First Amendment >> Foundation, a Florida-based government watchdog group. In turning over >> emails from his private account, she said, Mr. Bush and his staff “went >> through those emails and decided what were public-record emails and what >> wasn’t. […] The Wall Street Journal reports today: “When the Orlando >> Sentinel filed a public-records request for the emails from the private >> account about the legislative session, Mr. Rubio’s spokeswoman said they >> had been deleted.” (WSJ, 3/13/15) >> >> >> >> Associated Press, “Several current and former governors who are >> considering a presidential run have found ways to delay or prevent public >> scrutiny of their communications while in office. That includes Republicans >> who have criticized their potential Democratic rival.” [AP, 3/7/15] >> >> >> >> Roll Call, “But the legislative branch, which has effectively exempted >> itself from the Freedom of Information Act, can keep its emails and other >> correspondence hidden for 20 years or more — and some forever.” [Roll >> Call, 3/10/15] >> >> >> >> Congressman Jason Chaffetz, who chairs the House Oversight and Government >> Reform Committee, was caught by ABC News with a personal email address – >> a gmail account – on his Congressional business card. [ABC, 3/3/15] >> >> >> >> In fact, people have called on Trey Gowdy to release his email if he >> wants to oversee this investigation. [MSNBC, 3/11/15] >> >> >> >