On the heels of his contentious CNN segment on Monday doing what CNN’s journalists wouldn’t in bringing up Donna Brazile’s firing, American Conservative Union (ACU) president Matt Schlapp brought the heat on Thursday afternoon to MSNBC as he demolished the assertions put forth by host Kate Snow's brushing aside of a Fox News Channel (FNC) report about the FBI investigating the Clinton Foundation.
Schlapp first felt compelled to step in when Snow hypocritically blasted the FNC story with NBC sources: “[L]aw enforcement officials tell us at NBC News that the FBI did take an initial look at the Clinton Foundation but that, based on allegations that were out there in the press, but there have no developments in that investigation over the past few months.”
Schalpp responded by noting that the FNC story used two sources to report that “this investigation of the Clinton Foundation, that they are putting more agents on it, not less and that they think there are a serious problem on the e-mails.”
He added the tidbit that sources also predicted “that there’s 99 percent chance that up to five foreign entities were able to look at all of Hillary Clinton’s e-mails” and such stories about the foundation are also being published in The Wall Street Journal among others.
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Snow again deflected and ruled that she knows otherwise based on NBC news sources and so Schalpp schooled her by asking why then did FBI Director James Comey send the letter to Congress and so Snow tried to put the debate to rest by ruling that “we can agree to disagree” even though “our reporting doesn’t match what you’re saying.”
However, the most tense part of the debate came a few minutes later when Schalpp again brought up the FBI bombshell: “If she's going to run on character, she's going to close this campaign out on character, I think she's making a huge mistake especially once again, when the FBI is finding all types of problems with two investigations that are raging in to her activities.”
A frustrated Snow replied that “once again, NBC knows of one investigation and not a second investigation” and Schlapp rebutted “that is just not true, I’m sorry” and suggested she read The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.
The debate then got snippy as Schlapp pointed out that the new e-mails on the Weiner laptop pertain to the Clinton Foundation (based on some media reports):
SNOW: I have. I have. I am only telling you what our —
SCHLAPP: There are two investigation. This is a fact. This a fact.
SNOW: I am telling you what our reporting is.
SCHLAPP: There are two investigations.
SNOW: I have to let it go there.
SCHLAPP: There are two investigations going on and you should level with people about that.
SNOW: It’s not that I am not leveling with people. I am telling you our reporting at NBC News.
SCHLAPP: Your reporting is not accurate.
SNOW: Well, okay, you can make that judgment.
The relevant portions of the transcript from MSNBC Live with Kate Snow on November 3 can be found below.
MSNBC Live with Kate Snow
November 3, 2016
3:29 p.m. Eastern
KATE SNOW: We just talked to Governor Granholm before the break, obviously a supporter of Hillary Clinton, and we talked about Donald Trump’s — one of his messages today where he went after Hillary Clinton and talked about the FBI near indictment of Hillary Clinton. I just want to note again that law enforcement officials tell us at NBC News that the FBI did take an initial look at the Clinton Foundation but that, based on allegations that were out there in the press, but there have no developments in that investigation over the past few months.
MATT SCHLAPP: But that’s not what they — let me just say that might be what they’re telling NBC but Fox broke last night with two sources inside the FBI that the — this is a serious target — this investigation of the Clinton Foundation, that they are putting more agents on it, not less and that they think there are a serious problem on the e-mails. They said that there’s 99 percent chance that up to five foreign entities were able to look at all of Hillary Clinton’s e-mails. This is being reported in The Wall Street Journal, in The Washington Times, in The New York Times and I think it’s important for you to say, what we know, which is this is a very serious investigation.
SNOW: What we know — I’ll just repeat it again. What we know and I checked with Pete Williams a little while ago, law enforcement officials talking with us, say that there was a look at this. There was an initial look at the Clinton Foundation within the FBI based on allegations that were in the press, that were in a book that's been cited, but there has not been any developments in recent months.
SCHLAPP: But Kate, why did Comey then — but why did Comey then send the letter to the Democratic leaders and the Republican leaders on the Hills saying that —
SNOW: That's a separate investigation. That's the investigation about the e-mail server and that very much exists.
SCHALPP: Yes. Yes and then the second investigation —
SNOW: But you’re conflating two things then because these are two different things.
SCHLAPP: No, no I’m not, but what I’m saying — no, no, let me be clear. What I am trying to say is there are two active investigations and that is a serious thing in the votes voters' minds. Why are her numbers on honesty and trustworthiness going into the basement? It’s because we’ve seen these WikiLeaks. We’ve seen these developments that we’ve learned that are differently than what she said publicly, what she said privately and we see that the FBI views this serious potential wrongdoing. I can’t predict what the FBI will do. I think it’s fair that you’re saying we don’t know what they’ll do until their investigation is done but it is wrong to sugarcoat this and say that mostly, this is almost over and they’ve already looked at it. That is not correct.
SNOW: Okay, so, our reporting doesn’t match what you’re saying. We can agree to disagree.
(....)
3:32 p.m. Eastern
SCHLAPP: If she's going to run on character, she's going to close this campaign out on character, I think she's making a huge mistake especially once again, when the FBI is finding all types of problems with two investigations that are raging in to her activities.
SNOW: And just once again, NBC knows of one investigation and not a second investigation.
SCHLAPP: That is just not true. I’m sorry. You should read The Wall Street Journal. You should read The New York Times.
SNOW: I have. I have. I am only telling you what our —
SCHLAPP: There are two investigation. This is a fact. This a fact.
SNOW: I am telling you what our reporting is.
SCHLAPP: There are two investigations.
SNOW: I have to let it go there.
SCHLAPP: There are two investigations going on and you should level with people about that.
SNOW: It’s not that I am not leveling with people. I am telling you our reporting at NBC News.
SCHLAPP: Your reporting is not accurate.
SNOW: Well, okay, you can make that judgment.
SCHLAPP: Okay.
SNOW: Trump's surrogate, Matt Schlapp. Good to see you. Thank you.
SCHLAPP: Thanks for having me on.
