Tipsheet

Of Course: Clintonite David Brock Spins For Hillary, Calls Scandals 'Nothing Burgers'

UPDATE: Over at Hot Air, Ed noted a new Washington Post/ABC News poll showing that a majority thinks Clinton isn't trustworthy, and that she broke government regulations with her email server.

**Original Post**

Media Matters For America Founder and die-hard Clintonite David Brock was on MSNBC’s Morning Joe this morning plugging his new book, Kill The Messenger: The Right-Wing Plot To Derail Hillary and Hijack Your Government, and the former first lady’s email fiasco was a subject of discussion.

Joe Scarborough asked Brock directly if he thought “all the scandals involving the Clinton’s ‘fake scandals.'”

“Yeah, sure,” said Brock. “Nothing’s been found; these are nothing burgers,” he added. Via Washington Free Beacon:

Former Rep. Harold Ford Jr. asked Brock why Clinton’s campaign isn't taking off, to which Brock responded by hitting the media coverage of Hillary’s email fiasco. He claims that over the past six months there’s been a campaign of media distortion against the former first lady, adding that in the last month, 70 percent of The New York Times’ Clinton coverage focused on the emails and 30 percent on everything else. He also added that if one were to speak with the reporters covering Clinton on the campaign trail, she is talking about a substantive agenda.

Being a former member of the right-leaning media, Brock says he tries to make some predictions in his new book based on the so-called “Republican playbook,” which Scarborough squashed by saying that it’s not a witch hunt given that The Times and Obama’s Department of Justice are interested parties in Hillary’s email server saga. The fact that the Department of Justice is investigating the server should dispel any notion of a conspiracy. Nevertheless, Brock has said that there’s “a special place in hell” for The Times concerning their coverage of Hillary.

The panel mostly focused on the 2009 regulation regarding the preservation of emails by government officials. Some U.S. ambassadors have been fired for having private email systems. Yet, the story has grown beyond the preservation and deletion of emails. Clinton turned over the server, the FBI concluded that there was at least one attempt to wipe it clean, there’s a probe into whether she violated portions of the Espionage Act, and over 300 emails have been flagged over concerns that they might have classified information, which goes against Clinton’s claim that no classified material was sent through that server. Oh, and there’s the allegation that some in her inner-circle might have removed the classification markers, which is illegal.

Yet, with die-hard Clintonites, like Brock, this means nothing. You’d have a more lively discussion with a ficus than convincing them that Hillary Clinton might have broken the law. On the other hand, it’s taken a toll on her poll numbers, with voters thinking of her as a dishonest and untrustworthy politician.