BREAKING: Bill Clinton breaks with Hillary on impact of Comey letter

[jodymarie aimee]

Bill Clinton breaks with Hillary on impact of Comey letter

Former President Bill Clinton on Saturday said he disagrees with his wife on the impact of former FBI Director Jame's Comey's decision to reopen his investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server just days before the 2016 election.

Clinton said the decision to reopen the investigation wouldn't have been as damaging had the controversy surrounding her emails not been overblown in the first place.


"We have a slight disagreement about this," the former president said, speaking alongside the former secretary of State at an event celebrating the 25th anniversary of his 1992 presidential victory.

"If the voters hadn't really been told that the email...was the most important issue since the end of World War II, I doubt if the FBI director could have flung the election at the end."

Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of State has long been the subject of controversy and an FBI investigation.

That FBI probe ended last year, when Comey announced that the bureau did not believe Clinton's actions warranted charges. But months later, less than two weeks before the November presidential election, Comey revealed that the bureau had reopened the probe after it uncovered additional emails on the computer of former Rep. Anthony Weiner.

Eventually, Comey said that the agency had closed the probe again. But Clinton has cited the controversy surrounding Comey's Oct. 28 letter announcing that he was reopening the investigation as politically damaging and detrimental to her presidential bid. She eventually lost to then-candidate Donald Trump.

Hillary Clinton has said on multiple occasions that she believes the letter was among a number of factors that cost her the election.


http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/361065-bill-clinton-breaks-with-hillary-on-impact-of-comey-letter

[JI7]

1. That's not really a disagreement

[jodymarie aimee]

2. I am merely the poster

not the author !!! Point is, we read and learn....

[Hortensis]

11. Then learn that we are responsible for what we post?

I've learned that all real news is published, not just by biased authors, but also by accurate, honorable authors for the purpose of informing.

So, when I find a story on a questionable site, I google the subject and choose a reputable source and honest author. Easy! Clickbait headlines are a big flashing warning sign that we need to evaluate carefully, no matter where we find them.

If for some reason I want to copy something because it's honest and worthwhile from a biased source, I do not copy any dishonest, clickbait headlines or dishonest text. Just leave those behind for those who seek out that stuff. Easy.

I've learned that the Hill has a slight conservative tilt to watch out for, but also that, like every major mainstream medium, it also has some very conservative authors. It's called balance, but sometimes their stuff is meant to twist and deceive.

And that can vary not just by author but by topic. Just look at the NYT's coverage of Hillary. Over 150 Pulitzers, but dishonest Hillary headlines all the way through the campaign, with much less dishonest stories inside for those who bothered to actually read those, though still with negative bias.

[yardwork]

14. Your subject line is very misleading.

[emulatorloo]

27. Clickbait headline (not your fault). The Hill likes to stir the pot.

[Demsrule86]

40. You are always responsible for what you post...

And if you find it is crap then you should delete...I have deleted stuff when I realize It was garbage.

[Soxfan58]

7. Yea

Bet he slept on the couch that night

[Hortensis]

10. Agree, the headline is extremely misleading. There's a huge "if"

conditional in there.

[OnDoutside]

3. I'm with Hillary on this. From where the polls were, if Comey had not come out at the end, it would

have been enough, imo.

However, if he hadn't come out in the first place, as Bill suggests, I think she would have won in a canter, maybe even winning the Senate control.

[Caliman73]

30. So is Bill.

The emails precede the Comey letter and the Republicans lied about and made a big deal about nonsense in the first place. That is what I got out of Bill's statement. The Hill knows that too, but they had to put that he "Breaks" with Hillary.

[Iliyah]

4. Marriaged is not a kumaya all the time,

neither is a democracy. Different opinions and views that are not harmful but adds to discussions not hatred, violence or war.

Although I somewhat disagree with Mr. President on this one.

[Arkansas Granny]

5. He may be right that the effect wouldnt have been as great if

so much attention hadn't been paid to the emails during her entire campaign, but in the end, her poll numbers dropped after Comey's statement about reopening the investigation and never recovered after his last statement days later.

I would say that their disagreement is very slight.

[Lee-Lee]

6. Ive always said the people who failed her most were the ones

who advised her to set that sever up and managed things to do with it for her.

[Raster]

8. just my thoughts...

...I think if I were one of the most investigated people on the planet, whose very name was the fulcrum of a cottage industry of manufactured political hate and I knew I would be running for the POTUS, I think I would try very very hard to do things by the absolute book, so that my enemies and the purveyors of the manufactured hate would have the least possible leg(s) to stand on. That's just me, though.

[yardwork]

15. The Secretary of State needed a secure server to do her job.

When Hillary became Secretary of State, eight years of W's wars and incompetence had put the U.S. in a precarious position. The State Department servers were notoriously insecure and unreliable.

Hillary did what was needed to do her job, on behalf of the country. We all owe her a debt of gratitude.

[Madam45for2923]

18. I agree. Maybe people are angry b/c they were not able to hack her server. How dare she?

[Lee-Lee]

20. There were several better ways to handle it

First and foremost was to no comingle personal and private emails. That’s not the way any competent IT advisor or legal advisor would tell you to do things. She should have had at least 3 accounts- State, personal and business/political. They could have been all on the same server but that seperation should have happened.

Second is that if it really is that State systems were so unreliable and insecure that you needed your own system then it should be your first priority to fix that so you can get back on the proper system and so everyone else at State has secure systems too. Tell everyone this is just a band aid until the problem is fixed correctly. As head of the agency she could have fast-tracked a system at least for her and close advisors but it appears that wasn’t tried, once they had something that worked they were comfortable with they let it rest that way.

Third is to make sure that all official emails are provided to the government as required by public records laws.

None of this happened. And I don’t blame Hillary for any of that. She from all reports is not a tech savvy or technology friendly person, as it not uncommon for people her age. Nothing wrong with that. But she told people what she wanted and needed and those people she trusted to do it right did it almost textbook wrong from start to finish, and they set her up to have the whole mess explode like it did.

[yardwork]

22. Your post corroborates my post. The State Department was a mess.

Hillary Clinton stepped into a very dangerous mess and quickly rebuilt trust in the U.S. government. All of our allies throughout the globe agree.

The private server she set up was never hacked. It was secure.

She deserves praise, not criticism.

[Raster]

23. NEVER, EVER do the various U.S. Intelligence Agencies that support the State Department and...

...other primal Federal Government Agencies and Entities EVER encourage, enable and/or sanction private access and usage of official government data resources. EVER.

[yardwork]

25. LOL. I know. We're all supposed to use their antiquated systems.

Sometimes you have to break some rules to get things done.

[lapucelle]

9. The Secret Service advised the former president to set up a private server.

After 9/11, the SS was charged with ensuring executive branch cyber security. They recommended a private server for use by the former president and his family.

[Raster]

24. That server was sanctioned SPECIFICALLY for Ex POTUS Bill Clinton. That server was NOT...

...APPROVED OR SANCTIONED by any U.S. Intelligence Agency for the use of Secretary Hillary Clinton.

[lapucelle]

28. For use by an ex-president and his family.

[Raster]

31. Yes, in their capacity as an ex-president and his family in their capacity as the ex-first family...

...NOT as Secretary of State.

[lapucelle]

36. Source?

[Demsrule86]

39. and it was the only server not hacked...state was hacked at least three times...and a big who gives

two fucks...everyone use private accounts because government email sucks...the GOP hypocrites are using it now.

[MoonRiver]

16. I agree with you.

In a war, you don't hand the enemy their ammo.

[MichMan]

17. Handled very poorly by the campaign

The bigger failure IMO was the response by the campaign when the issue was at front and center. I don't know if that was on the advisors or Hillary herself.

Instead of tackling it head on, they just kept issuing these nuanced statements that challenged the media to dig deeper, thus keeping it in the headlines for week after week.

First it was that all the e mails were personal in nature about Chelsea's wedding & yoga and not State dept. related. Then it was that nothing classified was ever sent. When that was questioned, then it was then stated that nothing "marked classified" was ever sent. Every time, the RW media went out on a mission to see if they could dig something up and creating daily news stories.

She didn't do herself any favors either when she was asked about wiping the server and in an attempt at humor said "You mean with a cloth?"

[Lee-Lee]

21. And I think that stemmed from the people running that response

Being at least in part the same people who were involved with the setup and managing of the server.

When your the one responsible for the mess it’s a lot harder to come right out and own it.

[steve2470]

34. I totally agree

When you've had a RW target on your back for many many years, you do NOT do anything illegal or even questionable. It's just common sense. They WILL find it eventually.

The RW has investigated the Clintons as much as anyone has been in history, so it was just a huge failure of common sense. To be clear, I like Secretary Clinton and wish she had been elected, but that was an unforced failure in my book. Yes, Comey should have left it alone and not done his announcement, but my original point stands.

[boston bean]

12. tht is the most ridiculous headline I have read in a long time.

[anneboleyn]

29. Exactly. This is hardly "breaking news" OR a "disagreement" -- a very minor difference. The Hill

must be desperate for hits on their website -- clearly they are trying to make something out of nothing.


It's still crazy that our media (especially the right-wing media) is still so absolutely obsessed with Hillary. They are still talking about her, every single day, even though the election happened a year ago. It's fucking nuts.

[GoCubsGo]

13. Hillary says "po-tay-toh." Bill says "po-tah-toh."

And, somebody was able to stretch that into a full-blown article. Overblowers got to overblow.

[Madam45for2923]

19. Breaking Hillary and Bill disagree on the importance of starch!

[MyNameGoesHere]

26. Nice touch with the Breaking:

When I read the article I couldn't find the Breaking part. Makes a person wonder right?

[steve2470]

33. yep me too nt

[steve2470]

32. ok, I just have to ask: Why did you feel the need to put BREAKING into your subject line ?

1- This is really not worthy of a breathless breaking designation IMHO

2- You posted it several hours after it was published in the Hill. Hardly "breaking" imho.

Just really curious.......

[alarimer]

35. What is this construction "breaks with"?

So they disagree. So what? I imagine that is true a lot.

"Breaks with" sort of implies something permanent.

[BoneyardDem]

37. Poster...where did you go?

There were a lot of good responses about checking sources and such.

Considering this was a blog...and you chose to post it without comment, I can only assume you are enamored with the veracity, and divisive tone. Or do you now have a clarifying comment to add?

[Demsrule86]

38. That is not a disagreement and he is right

[mountain grammy]

41. The issue can be debated

I know a few people who claimed they “made up their minds” with the Comey announcement..bullshit! They wanted an excuse to vote trump and they would have found it somewhere..fucking racists.