NY Times Sends Warning Shot to GOP Over Hillary's Classified Emails: Ease Off

July 27th, 2015 9:23 PM

On Monday morning, New York Times Public Editor Margaret Sullivan, facing an outcry from her paper's liberal readership, fretted over its coverage of the investigation into Hillary Clinton sending private emails containing classified material. The print edition sent a similar message to Republicans who might dare to use the issue against Clinton on the road to the White House: Ease off. Willie Horton and the "war on women" trope also make appearances as further warning of the alleged perils of Republican overreach.

Reporters Maggie Haberman (pictured) and Ashley Parker suggested GOP presidential candidates tread lightly: "Focus on Clinton's Emails Forces Republicans to Weigh Risks of Criticism." The very lede of Haberman and Parker's story has a tired, "here we go again" quality in its lament over the "latest chapter in the continuing story."

The latest chapter in the continuing story of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s State Department emails has presented Republican presidential candidates with a new opportunity to attack Mrs. Clinton, traditionally something popular with their party’s voters, and some of them lost no time doing it.

First out on Friday were Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin and former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, who both called for Justice Department investigations. Others followed over the weekend -- Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky; Carly Fiorina, the former chief executive of Hewlett-Packard; and the businessman Donald J. Trump, who, not surprisingly, had the sharpest words on the subject.

“The fact is that what she has done is criminal,” Mr. Trump said Sunday on “State of the Union” on CNN, alluding to what he called a potential cover-up involving the Department of Justice. “I don’t see how she can run.”