Kevin Drum fact-checks the
ever-unreliable Ron Fournier and along the way reminds us why it's a mistake to pay attention to most coverage of Hillary Clinton's email.
Fournier made three key points, Drum writes:
- "The State Department confirmed that Clinton turned over her email only after Congress discovered that she had exclusively used a private email system."
Nope. Fournier is referring to last night's Washington Post story, which says the State Department discovered it didn't know where Clinton's emails were. (Or Condi Rice's. Or Colin Powell's. Or Madeleine Albright's. Or much of anyone else's apparently.) Clinton turned over her emails when [the] State asked for them.
- "A federal court has helped uncover more emails related to the Benghazi raid that were withheld from congressional investigators. Clinton has insisted she turned over all her work-related email and complied with congressional subpoenas. Again, she hasn’t been telling the truth."
This is flatly false. The linked Politico story says nothing about Clinton not turning over all her work emails. It says only that the State Department has claimed executive privilege for a few documents—something with no relation at all to Hillary Clinton. From Politico: "The FOIA lawsuits provide a vehicle to force the agency to identify those emails, although the substance of the messages is not disclosed."
- "The FBI has recovered personal and work-related e-mails from her private server....The FBI has moved beyond whether U.S. secrets were involved to how and why. In the language of law enforcement, the FBI is investigating her motive."
I guess this isn't flatly false, but "how and why" were words used by Bloomberg's reporter in the linked story. There didn't seem to be any special significance attached to them, and it's the airiest kind of speculation to say this means the FBI is investigating Clinton's motive. They've consistently said that she's not the subject of a criminal investigation. Why would they be investigating motive if they're not investigating any underlying crime?
Those are significant mistakes. They might almost lead you to question not just Fournier's political slant but his journalistic skills. Shoot, his basic reading skills. But it's probably all about the political slant. (That's not a compliment, by the way.)