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Re: possible Podesta statement to prebut Gowdy

Here's a statement for everyone's review and feedback. The idea would be to deploy this in John's name in the same vein as we've previously done, in advance of Gowdy's appearance on Face the Nation tomorrow, where he will no doubt try to turn up the heat on the missing Sid emails. This would serve to put him on the defensive a little, and force him to address some specific questions about his motives while contrasting all of it with the otherwise historic week we've had between POTUS' eulogy and 3 SCOTUS decisions, which will no doubt all be topics on the Sundays tomorrow. We could give it to Dickerson in advance and then post it on The Briefing at some point. *Statement* This week was an important week for our country. The Supreme Court stood up for Americans’ right to access affordable health coverage, for non-discriminatory housing practices, and for marriage equality for all. And in the wake of a massacre, we watched our President stand with the people of Charleston on Friday, grieve with them, and with all of us, as he challenged us all to move forward with purpose. That’s the conversation I’ve been having with people, that Hillary Clinton has been having with people, and that Americans are having with each other. In stark contrast to that, Trey Gowdy and the Republicans are clinging to their invented scandal, one that’s on life-support. Their latest witch-hunt is based on the testimony of a non-government employee and a set of documents he turned over, which Gowdy himself called “unvetted, uncorroborated, unsubstantiated intelligence,” after hours of interrogation on the matter. That leaves one question that prominently remains: What, if anything at all, does this have to do with Benghazi? Hillary Clinton has been saying for months that she’s ready and willing to come testify in an open hearing, yet they haven’t called her to do so. If Representative Gowdy is going to continue his taxpayer-funded campaign, he needs to explain himself. He needs to explain what wasn’t satisfactory about 7 previous Congressional investigations, the independent and exhaustive findings of the Accountability Review Board, and the conclusions of his Republican counterparts on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and House Armed Services Committee, both of which found no wrongdoing. He needs to explain to the American people what it is he’s still looking for, why, and to what end, if he’s going to continue to spend their money. After all, he’s the one that said his committee was going to “rise above politics.” Otherwise, his intentions seem pretty clear, and after the week we've had on other fronts, you really wonder about the Republicans' priorities, and whether they have anything else to offer than this counterproductive race to the bottom. ### On Sat, Jun 27, 2015 at 5:51 PM, Cheryl Mills <cheryl.mills@gmail.com> wrote: > good copy > > On Sat, Jun 27, 2015 at 4:18 PM, Jennifer Palmieri < > jpalmieri@hillaryclinton.com> wrote: > >> Friends – HRC asked me what offense we could do today to set up Gowdy for >> Face The Nation tomorrow. >> >> >> >> Nick and I thought best option would be a statement from Podesta doing >> some offense on how this latest obsession on Sid emails is absurd, further >> evidence this is partisan effort. >> >> >> >> HRC was hoping for a video. Don’t think that is possible for tomorrow. >> I could see doing one for Tuesday, when we have more email news to face >> that could put all this in context. >> >> >> >> In the meantime, Nick is drafting a statement that we will share with all >> of you. So be on the lookout for that. >> >> >> >> Thanks, all. >> > >