Clinton Whine Tour Part V: NYT Covered My ‘Nothing Burger’ Email Fiasco Like Pearl Harbor And The DNC Screwed Me Over

Hillary Clinton was interviewed at the Recode Conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, where the former first lady tore in the Democratic National Committee for leaving her more or less adrift, saying she inherited a data operation that was bankrupt. She also said that the Russians weaponized the leaked emails on Wikileaks, and that they influenced voters. She added that the Russians couldn't have executed such an activity without guidance. And yes, former FBI Director James Comey was mentioned in her candid discussion, noting that she started to tank as soon as he sent the now-infamous October 28 letter to Congress informing them that the FBI would review new emails. What she failed to mention is that pollsters disagree with the claim that the letter contributed to her election loss. Data cruncher Nate Cohn of The New York Times even said that we should be skeptical; Clinton began to rebound in the weekend leading up to Election Day. She also said that Facebook has to do a better job weeding out fake news stories. Again, these stories did not play a pivotal role in the election, according to two professors, Hunt Allcott from New York University and Matthew Gentzkow from Stanford.

Mrs. Clinton also tore into the news media, saying that they covered her email fiasco like it was Pearl Harbor. She also said it was “the biggest nothing burger­ ever.” The voters disagreed. If there was one issue that torpedoed her on character issues (i.e. trust, honesty, etc.) it was her email system. It was unauthorized. It was unsecure. And the allegations that she might have mishandled classified information were not absurd. The FBI discovered thousands of classified emails on the server, though many were "up-classified" upon review. Yet, three were marked classified at the time of inception, undercutting the narrative that Clinton did not send or receive any classified information. She also did not turn over all of her work-related emails. The endless trip ups over her email arrangement didn’t help extinguish any fires either. In all, the whole scandal rehashed the many criticisms people had of her and Bill Clinton during the 1990s—that they’re secretive and play by their own rules. That was exemplified with this issue. In June of 2016, a new email was discovered that wasn’t turned over that shows why Mrs. Clinton had the private email system established. USA Today’s Susan Page was on CBS’ Face The Nation to give us the rundown:

“An important disclosure for two reasons; number one it showed she was concerned about letting—she gave a different explanation for why she had a private email server. She was concerned about the personal being accessible; it wasn’t a matter of convenience, which is what she told the world. Secondly, she didn’t turn it over. She deleted this email apparently and it came up because it came through the aide that she had sent it to—so it goes right to those questions about honesty, trustworthiness, and transparency

Hillary Clinton also said that she always knew it would be a close election, despite forecasters giving her 70 or 80+ percent chances of winning, which added to the shock. Everyone can play Monday morning quarterback, but that’s just disingenuous. I think the former first lady and two-time presidential loser knew she was going to win; her staff was popping champagne before the polls closed. And when she didn’t—the utter shock left her enraged, befuddled, and in search of blaming everyone else for her failed campaign.

If there’s one thing that we know about Hillary—and the rest of the political Left—they have this herculean ability to avoid taking responsibility and admitting that Mrs. Clinton was a terrible candidate and a bad campaigner. Telling half the country they’re deplorable for supporting the Republican isn’t a good way to win. Ignoring tens of millions of white working class voters isn’t a good way to win. Having zero economic messages isn’t a good way to win. Also, this email issue wouldn’t have been a major focal point if you just created a government address and abided by the 2009 regulations set by the National Archives and Records Administration, but we know that Clinton thinks that those silly rules are for the little people.

In the end, no one liked her, trusted her, or was even receptive to her agenda. Millions of Obama supporters flipped for Trump, with a decent chunk saying that the Clinton-Democratic agenda favored the wealthy. She was a disaster. Also, it’s not like James Comey, the Russians, and the news media told her to avoid the Rust Belt at all costs. That was all on her.

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Clinton will whine some more about losing one of the most winnable elections in recent memory, but it’s still all her fault. At the same time, she has a lot of time on her hands, so expect these candid conversations about why she sucked to continue. There is one silver lining: she said (again) that mounting another campaign is not in her future.

Addendum: The former first lady also said that they tried to warn about Russian meddling, but were ignored. The Obama administration knew about it as well, but did nothing. Seems like she should be angrier with the former president more than anything else—and there are reports that she is.

H/T (MJ Lee)