Chuck Todd Wonders If GOP ‘Inadvertently Helped Hillary’ By Holding Comey Hearing

July 7th, 2016 7:06 PM

Meet the Press moderator and MSNBC’s MTP Daily host Chuck Todd led off the Thursday edition of the latter show by playing the consistently-played and tired line by the liberal media that Republicans are running the risk of or already have overplayed their hands when it comes to Hillary Clitnon’s e-mail scandal. 

“If it's Thursday, it's a five-hour grilling for the FBI director, but did Republicans make a mistake by even holding this hearing? Did they inadvertently help Hillary Clinton,” Todd wondered in the show’s opening tease. 

Todd began the “Tonight’s Take” segment by properly noting that “House Republicans spent all day today doing their best to what they believe would be to capitalize on what some believe Donald Trump squandered this week” due to his obsession with his now-deleted star tweet and infatuation with Saddam Hussein. 

The House Oversight Committee held a hearing that lasted for roughly five hours, but in the eyes of Todd, served as a risk in “exposing a stronger defense by Comey of his own decision and a stronger defense of some of Clinton's practices on e-mail.”

After a series of soundbites from Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) questioning Comey, Todd opined that it may have been in the GOP’s better interests to not bring Comey in:

It's possible his words on Tuesday, if left alone, would have made for a stronger condemnation of Clinton's judgment. Instead, Republicans put a spotlight on a series of what turned out to have Comey myth-busting, various theories surrounding her private server that may have not been overturned.

Upon highlighting how Chaffetz had Comey reveal that the FBI did not investigation the truthfulness of Clinton’s past statements to Congress could lead to another probe, Todd reasserted this decades-old narrative that Republicans (and never Democrats) could overplay something that in this case is the FBI’s decision not to recommend charges:

Now they can say throughout the fall that Clinton is still under an FBI investigation. Chaffetz did submit that referral, by the way, moments ago, but they have to walk this line that the Clintons have successfully been able to navigate before, and that is this. Do House Republicans go too far in going after Clinton?

Perusing NewsBusters archives, one will find umpteen examples of the media warning Republicans using similar phrasing and included Todd himself, who warned the GOP in June 2013 to not be caught “overplaying their hand” on the IRS scandal. 

For an example slightly closer to the present, CNN’s New Day bemoaned Republicans on April 24, 2015 for having “overplayed their hand” on the Clinton Foundation scandal. 

Other examples of this talking point can be found here, here, and here.

The relevant portions of the transcript from MSNBC’s MTP Daily on July 7 can be found below.

MTP Daily
July 7, 2016
5:00 p.m. Eastern [TEASE]

CHUCK TODD: If it's Thursday, it's a five-hour grilling for the FBI director, but did Republicans make a mistake by even holding this hearing? Did they inadvertently help Hillary Clinton?

(....)

5:01 p.m. Eastern

TODD: But I want to start with president politics. House Republicans spent all day today doing their best to what they believe would be to capitalize on what some believe Donald Trump squandered this week and that is a focus on what FBI Director James Comey handed the Republicans. You could argue they handed him enough fodder against Hillary Clinton to create attack ads that would last until November with what was a scathing rebuke of what he called on Tuesday careless email practices, but of course, instead, Donald Trump seemed to only turn it into a one-day story and instead divided his focus on other personal controversies. We'll of course, focus on that a little bit later in the show as well, but let’s sticking with Comey. He testified before the House Oversight Committee for what was a grueling five-hour session. On his decision not to recommend charges against Clinton, which you could argue, by going this extra mile to highlight the worst of Clinton's carelessness, House Republicans gambled on exposing a stronger defense by Comey of his own decision and a stronger defense of some of Clinton's practices on e-mail. The question comes down to whether Comey was a greater asset or liability politically as far as the Republican party is concerned. 

(....)

COMEY: We have no basis to conclude she lied to the FBI. [SCREEN WIPE] It would be fair, if she worked for me, it‘d be fair to have a robust disciplinary hearing. It’s not fair to prosecute that person these facts. [SCREEN WIPE] There’s all kinds of folks watching this home or being told well, lots of other cases were prosecuted and she wasn’t, I want them to know that's not true. 

TODD: There you go. It's possible his words on Tuesday, if left alone, would have made for a stronger condemnation of Clinton's judgment. Instead, Republicans put a spotlight on a series of what turned out to have Comey myth-busting, various theories surrounding her private server that may have not been overturned. He ended up addressing comparisons between Clinton’s investigation and that of former CIA Director David Petraeus. 

COMEY: In that case, you had vast quantities of highly classified information, including special sensitive compartmental information [SCREEN WIPE] That was not only shared with someone without authority to have it, but we found it in a search warrant hidden under the insulation in his attic, and then he lied to us about it during the investigation. So you have obstruction of justice, you have intentional misconduct, and a vast quantity of information. He admitted he knew that was the wrong thing to do. 

TODD: And then Comey publicly shut down another myth that's been out there, the assertion from a hacker who, of course goes by the name of Gucifer, that he somehow gained access to Clinton's server while she was secretary of state. 

REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN BLAKE FARENTHOLD (Texas): Can you confirm that Gucifer never gained access to her server? 

COMEY: Yeah he did not. He admitted that was a lie. 

(....)

TODD: Politically, Republicans may feel they made some headway in the hearing and that's — for this one reason, they got another investigation in motion by the FBI. This time, it’s over whether Clinton lied under oath. 

REPBULICAN CONGRESSMAN JASON CHAFFETZ (Utah): Did the FBI investigate her statements under oath on this topic? 

COMEY: Not to my knowledge. I don't think there has been a referral from Congress. 

CHAFFETZ: Do you need a referral from Congress to investigate her statements under oath? 

COMEY: Sure do. 

CHAFFETZ: You'll have one. You'll have one in the next few hours. 

TODD: So there you go. Now they can say throughout the fall that Clinton is still under an FBI investigation. Chaffetz did submit that referral, by the way, moments ago, but they have to walk this line that the Clintons have successfully been able to navigate before, and that is this. Do House Republicans go too far in going after Clinton? Republicans previously lauded James Comey. Chaffetz went out of his way to call him a man of integrity with his finger on the pulse of this matter. But this time around, it was the Democrats who embraced Comey. Republicans hammered him on whether or not his decision held up. What did hold up was Comey’s unflappable defense of the decision. Comey had to come back firmer than ever against the Republicans on this Oversight Republicans, and they ended up forcing him to do it.