On Thursday, NBC’s Today led with breaking news that Hillary Clinton staffer Bryan Pagliano would invoke the Fifth Amendment and not testify to the House Benghazi Committee about setting up the former Secretary of State’s private e-mail server. At the top of the show, co-host Savannah Guthrie wondered: “Is there something to hide? And what does it mean for the Clinton campaign?”
Moments later, Guthrie remarked: “And once again, Hillary Clinton’s e-mail woes top our news.” Correspondent Kristen Welker proclaimed: “This is yet another blow to the Clinton campaign....The IT specialist worked for Clinton during her 2008 presidential campaign and also at the State Department, setting up her e-mail in 2009. His lawyer telling NBC Pagliano would not answer questions, asserting his constitutional right against self-incrimination.”
Following Welker’s report, Guthrie turned to Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd and observed: “There are a lot of reasons an individual may choose to assert their Fifth Amendment right not to self-incriminate....But as a political matter, for Hillary Clinton to have a staffer who says, ‘I better not testify because I don't want to incriminate myself,’ that does not look good.”
Todd agreed: “It isn’t. In the court of public opinion, when you plead the Fifth, as far as the political world is concerned, then you're already admitting to some potential wrongdoing....And this is what makes this investigation so potentially damaging to Hillary Clinton.”
He added: “...let's take the Clinton campaign at their word that they encouraged Mr. Pagliano to testify. Well, what’s in the best interest of Hillary Clinton may not be in the best interest of Mr. Pagliano.”
After Guthrie asked if Joe Biden would be more likely to run against Clinton given the development, Todd declared:
...with this Benghazi Committee on the Hill with subpoena power, you never know where these investigations go. The Clinton campaign may think it has its arms around this political problem, but when you cannot control different people in this situation, who may decide, again, “What’s in the political interest of Hillary Clinton is in not my legal interest,” then you know you have a problem down the road. If you're Joe Biden you think, “Hey, this is out of her hands now.”
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Overall, Today devoted 6 minutes, 20 seconds to Clinton’s e-mail scandal. By contrast, ABC’s Good Morning America and CBS This Morning could each only muster less than a minute of coverage to the story. A mere 51 seconds on GMA and just 40 seconds on This Morning.
On GMA, correspondent Jon Karl briefly noted:
...the Clinton staffer who set up the private e-mail server at Hillary Clinton's home in Chappaqua, New York, is taking the Fifth. He was subpoenaed to testify before the House Benghazi committee. The Clinton campaign says they encouraged him to testify but he has decided to take the Fifth, not to testify. The campaign says he simply didn't want to be drawn into a political spectacle.
In a news brief at the top of the 8 a.m. ET, anchor Paula Faris repeated:
And the former State Department staffer who set up Hillary Clinton's private e-mail server is pleading the Fifth. Attorneys for Clinton aide Bryan Pagliano have announced he will not testify before a House committee on the Benghazi attacks, saying he does not want to be part of a political spectacle. Clinton campaign officials insist they encouraged him to testify.
While both Karl and Faris parroted the spin that Pagliano simply “didn’t want to be drawn into a political spectacle,” neither explained that the Fifth Amendment was specifically designed to protect someone from self-incrimination, not a “spectacle.”
This Morning provided two briefs on the topic:
7:08 AM ET
NORAH O’DONNELL: A former aide to Hillary Clinton plans to invoke the Fifth Amendment in response to a subpoena to testify before Congress. Brian Pagliano helped set up the server that housed Clinton's private e-mail account. A panel investigating the Benghazi attacks wants to question him.
8:03 AM ET
ANTHONY MASON: A former aide to Hillary Clinton reportedly plans to invoke the Fifth Amendment in response to a congressional subpoena. Brian Pagliano helped set up the server that housed Clinton’s private e-mail account when she was Secretary of State. Clinton’s use of that server has shielded some of her e-mail from congressional inquiries. A panel investigating the 2012 Benghazi attacks wants to question Pagliano.
