On Wednesday, Fox News, Politico and The New York Times all had reports from the FBI director on the status of Clinton’s email investigation. The story should’ve been covered on the evening news broadcasts, but because it was unfavorable to Clinton, it was ignored. FBI director James Comey denied Clinton’s assertion that her email investigation was simply a “security review” and not a full-fledged serious “investigation.” Comey told reporters, "It's in our name. I'm not familiar with the term 'security inquiry'.”
For months, Clinton has avoided the email investigation questions but when she does answer she has dismissed the FBI investigation as a “security review” or a “security inquiry.”
But as the New York Times’ Lichtblau wrote: What “[b]egan as a security referral,” “quickly” escalated and “became an investigation into whether anyone had committed a crime in handling classified information.” In fact, the investigation hasn’t been “a security referral” since July of 2015, according to linked government documents in the Times’ article, yet Clinton was still calling it that up to this past Sunday.
Asked about it at a press briefing Wednesday, FBI director James Comey outright denied Clinton’s characterization of the ordeal.
On FNC’s Special Report, Bret Baier covered Comey’s statement in a panel with The Wall Street Journal’s Jason Riley, NPR’s Mara Liasson, and talk radio host Laura Ingraham.
Baier began by playing the clip of Clinton reiterating to CBS’ John Dickerson her months’ long line that this was just “a security review.”
But “Here’s the thing,” the host brought up, the FBI director disagrees. Baier read off Comey’s statement:
“I don’t know what that means...We’re conducting an investigation, That’s the bureau’s business. That’s what we do...I’m not familiar with the term ‘security inquiry.’”
“So basically whatever Hillary Clinton calls it, it’s still an investigation,” Baier summarized.
Laura Ingraham called the Clinton camp’s dismissal of the investigation, “Classic Clinton” saying “This is what they always do, when there’s a question, when there’s a legitimate review, they call it something else. It’s always the semantic game they play.”
The WSJ’s Jason Riley added that this investigation is “one of the reasons Bernie Sanders is still in the race.”
The panel noted that things appear to be getting tense for the Clinton camp as news broke yesterday that Clinton aide Cheryl Mills actually walked out in the middle of the investigation.
“Comey doesn't like people making light of what his team of professionals are doing,” Ingraham said. “If it’s just a security review, why are you walking out?” she asked.
